OJJDP administers funding and programs to coordinate the Federal government's response to abused and victimized children. These resources support a range of activities designed to meet the needs of victimized children and their families. Activities include direct services, training and technical assistance, capacity building and interagency coordination. The statutory authority is the Victims of Child Abuse (VOCA) Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 13001 et seq.
The VOCA Regional Childrens Advocacy Centers (CAC) program supports four Regional CACs, one situated within each of the four U.S. Census regions. The goal of the program is to provide training, technical assistance, and information services to both developing and established multidisciplinary child abuse teams (MDTS), local CACs, and state chapter organizations of CACs that respond to child abuse and neglect. Pursuant to section 213 of the VOCA Act, the four Regional CACs were established to: 1) assist communities in developing child-focused, community-oriented, facility-based programs to improve the resources available to child victims and families; 2) provide support for non-offending family members; 3) enhance coordination among community agencies and professionals involved in the intervention, prevention, prosecution, and investigation systems that respond to child abuse cases; and 4) train physicians and other healthcare and mental healthcare professionals in the multidisciplinary approach to child abuse cases.
The Philadelphia Childrens Alliance operates the Northeast Regional CAC. The states included in the Northeast Region are: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The core components of this project include national, regional and state conferences; information dissemination; on-site technical assistance and team training; multidisciplinary and discipline specific training; use of innovative technologies and learning platforms; mentoring of CAC programs; CAC leadership development; and chapter development to strengthen state networks and develop new programs.
Under this project, the Philadelphia Children's Alliance (the Alliance) will provide training and technical assistance to develop and strengthen CACs and MDTs in the nine states in the northeast region. The Alliance will work with state chapters to continue to establish CACs/MDTs in underserved areas and develop protocols essential to coordinating investigations and providing treatment. It will also assist established MDTs to create strong interdisciplinary partnerships including medical, mental health and victim advocacy services and organizational capacity. In collaboration with the National Children's Alliance (NCA), the other three Regional CACs and state chapters, the Alliance will provide training and technical assistance resulting in an increase in the number of children and families that receive evidence-based treatment in a coordinated process that reduces trauma to children. Success will be documented by numbers of professionals trained, increases in the number of CACs achieving or retaining accreditation with the NCA, increases in the number of MDTs that achieve associate member status and the number of programs that improve the percentage of children served that receive medical and mental health services. NCA/NCF
