During the 2023-2024 program year, the Children’s Advocacy Center provided a wide variety of support services to area families. The CAC’s intervention efforts included:
- Conducting forensic interviews with 167 children regarding child abuse, including allegations of child sexual abuse.
- Providing 98 children with evidence-based, trauma informed therapy.
- Conducting a new program, Champ Camp, offering a week-long camp for children ages 5 through 13 who had experienced child abuse. This brand-new initiative was attended by 24 children.
- The CAC’s Family Reunification program seeks to support families in overcoming the issues which led to a child’s separation from the family, with the ultimate objective of safely reuniting those children with their families when appropriate. By offering a combination of counseling, education, resources and ongoing support, the program aims to prevent the need for further intervention while promoting healthy family reunification and long-term success.
The CAC also seeks to prevent abuse before it happens by offering education and family growth opportunities. The Early Head Start and Parents as Teachers programs offer at-home visiting programs for families whose children are birth to kindergarten age. During the 2023-2024 program year, these programs served 162 families and 214 children. At a minimum, families received hour-long visits every other week. In addition, the CAC offered 26 socialization and family fun opportunities during the year.
The CAC’s Fatherhood program also had a wide reach, serving individual and group services to 132 local fathers, including support for fathers in recovery from substance use, the “All Pro Dad” program in collaboration with the New Castle School District, and a brand-new Alumni Breakfast for past enrollees in the program.
One a month, the CAC offers a Parent Café, bringing families together to support each other while learning ways to integrate and discuss the “5 Protective Factors” used to strengthen families. These factors include Parental Resilience, Social Connections, Knowledge of Parenting and child Development, Concrete Support in Times of Need, and Social and Emotional competence of Children. The development of these areas helps build stronger, closer, safer families.
To learn more about the extensive services the CAC provides, click here to visit their website.
