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Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center OJJDP FY 2016 VOCA Program Application

Award Information

Award #
2016-CI-FX-K001
Location
Congressional District
Status
Closed
Funding First Awarded
2016
Total funding (to date)
$3,650,000

Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2016, $1,250,000)

The Midwest Regional Children's Advocacy Center (MRCAC) will provide training and technical assistance to develop and strengthen Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) and Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Teams (MDTs) in the 12 states that comprise the Midwest region. 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; mentoring of CAC programs; CAC leadership development; and chapter development to strengthen state networks and develop new programs.

The MRCAC will promote and support widespread, consistent implementation of evidence-based practices and a multidisciplinary approach to child abuse investigation, assessment, intervention and prosecution, ensuring effective outcomes for child abuse victims and their families. The target populations MRCAC serves are the Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs), Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs), and state Chapter organizations located in the 12-state Midwest region. The MRCAC has developed and disseminated innovative programming for these populations within the region, as well as nationally and internationally. To achieve its mission, the MRCAC established the following goals; 1) every child abuse victim in the Midwest region will have access to an Accredited CAC with a responsive MDT, 2) American Indian and Alaska Native children exposed to violence will receive a coordinated multidisciplinary and culturally appropriate response in both native and non-native communities, 3) multidisciplinary professionals will have access to affordable, cost-effective and high-quality training and resources to enhance the provision of care to child abuse victims, 4) state chapters will be recognized as a leader and invaluable resource in their respective state for training, technical assistance and advocacy, and 5) all training, technical assistance and resource development to advance the national response to child abuse will be implemented in a coordinated fashion among the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCA) Program grantees and other key national stakeholders. To address the goals established under this program, the MRCAC will implement evidence-based training and technical assistance activities including, but not limited to; outreach to underserved communities, training to improve the response to commercial sexual exploitation of children, foundational medical training and web-based continuous quality improvement activities, continuing education webinar series for all MDT professionals, organizational capacity training and customized technical assistance as requested.

The MRCAC will provide affordable, accessible, and cost-effective training for MDTs by utilizing the latest technology and research to deliver timely, relevant and high impact programs. To ensure the greatest impact and non-duplicative service delivery, the MRCAC will coordinate and collaborate with the robust network of local, regional and national entities working to improve the national response to child abuse. The MRCAC will provide performance measurement data as required by OJJDP. CA/NCF

Date Created: September 27, 2016