ChildAdvocacyCenterGainesville.org
Title
Child Advocacy Center - intervening for victims of child abuse
Description
In a perfect world, children live in safe, nurturing environments. But our world is not perfect. It is a harsh reality that child abuse occurs all too frequently. More than 1000 children are confirmed as victims of child abuse in Alachua County each year. Too often these young victims are further traumatized by the very system designed to help them.
Until recently, these children were shuffled among agencies, from the police department to the hospital to the mental health center to the prosecutor's office. They have been asked to tell the story of their abuse over and over again. Understandably, after the third or fourth interview many children's stories become disjointed, thus weakening the prosecutor's case against the accused offender. The children were traumatized twice -- once by the abuser and again by those trying to help. The fragmented system did not offer children and families the support and services they needed to begin the journey toward healing.
In 1998, a group of dedicated individuals from agencies who handle child abuse recognized a need for change. The primary focus would be placed on the child victim and non-offending family members. This group began working as a team to establish an advocacy center that would unite all agencies working on behalf of child abuse victims and promote a compassionate community response.
Contact
- silverscape technologies
-
- gainesville fl
- United States 32601
-
- +1.8003431312
