Western Regional Children's Advocacy Center

The Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego, (Chadwick Center) will manage the Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC). In that capacity, Chadwick Center will collaborate with partners funded through the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA), including the agencies operating the other Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers (RCACs), National Native Children’s Trauma Center, National Children’s Advocacy Center, Zero Abuse Project, National Children’s Alliance (NCA), and the NCA state chapters to deliver training and technical assistance (TTA) and implement collaborative projects to serve multi-disciplinary team (MDT) professionals, children’s advocacy centers (CACs) and chapter leaders and staff in the western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The mission of WRCAC is to reduce the prevalence and adverse impact of child maltreatment by ensuring all children have access to a high-quality, multi-disciplinary response to abuse that is coordinated, evidence-based and trauma-informed. Through this award, Chadwick Center will support a staff team of training specialists, state chapter specialists, and training and communications coordinators to implement a range of TTA strategies to advance the following program goals for FY24:
• Multi-disciplinary professionals will receive relevant, high-quality TTA to meet or exceed NCA accreditation standards for professional development (with a focus on TTA directed to victim advocates, MDT Leaders/Facilitators, mental health clinicians, and strengthening and building resiliency of MDT professionals).
• Multi-disciplinary professionals, CACs and state chapter organizations serving rural and frontier communities will ensure delivery of accessible, quality, evidence-informed, mental health responses to trauma through increased use of highly coordinated tele-mental health.
• Chapter organizations will provide essential state level leadership, TTA and coordination among its members to improve outcomes for child abuse victims and families (with a focus on TTA directed toward building chapter organizational and TTA capacity, executive leadership and peer networking).
• Agencies funded through VOCAA will share information and coordinate strategies to advance the national response to child abuse (with a focus on implementing a five-year national plan and a coordinated joint plan for TTA delivery).

The Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, (Chadwick Center) will continue to operate the Western Regional Children's Advocacy Center (WRCAC) program. The Western region includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The Chadwick Center will deliver training and technical assistance and implement collaborative projects to serve multidisciplinary team professionals, children's advocacy centers, and chapter leaders and staff in the Western region. The mission of Western Regional Children's Advocacy is to reduce the prevalence and adverse impact of child maltreatment by ensuring all children have access to a high-quality, multidisciplinary response to abuse that is coordinated, evidence-based and trauma-informed. Through this award, Chadwick Center will support a staff team of training and content specialists and coordinators to implement a range of training and technical assistance strategies to advance the following program goals: 1) Provide relevant, high-quality training and technical assistance to meet or exceed accreditation standards for professional development, 2) Provide training and technical assistance to ensure delivery of accessible, quality, evidence-informed, mental health responses to trauma through increased use of highly coordinated telemental health in rural and frontier communities, and 3) Provide essential state level leadership, training and technical assistance, and coordination among its members to improve outcomes for child abuse victims and families with a focus on building chapter organizational and training and technical assistance capacity, executive leadership and peer networking.