The National Children's Advocacy Center (NCAC) provides training, technical assistance, and resources to state Chapter organizations, Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs), and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) within the southern federal census region through its Southern Regional Children's Advocacy Center (SRCAC) program. Based on recent research, data analysis, and a needs assessment process, the project focuses on the following five areas: Chapters, MDTs, CACs, communications, and RCAC and Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA) partner-focused collaborative work.
The goals of the project are:
- Chapters: To develop, strengthen, and sustain the organizational capacity of Chapter organizations, to strengthen Chapters' ability to deliver training and technical assistance to local CACs and MDTs, and to create equitable and consistent access to training and technical assistance across the CAC movement.
- MDTs: To enhance the capacity of MDTs to provide safety, justice, and healing for children and families impacted by abuse and trauma, and to support MDT Facilitators and develop the concept of MDT Leadership Teams in support of sustaining an effective MDT response.
- CACs: To support the foundational and ongoing professional development pathways for direct service personnel, to enhance resiliency in the face of natural disasters, and to ensure access to training, technical assistance, publications, and resources.
- Communications: To utilize strategic communications approaches to enhance access to resources.
- Collaboration: To enhance cross-regional CAC and VOCAA program collaboration for impact and efficiency.
NCAC considers the following values as a framework for developing objectives: scale, impact, need, and collaborative approach. NCAC selects project activities based on identified needs and coordinates with other Regional CACs and the Tribal CAC training and technical assistance (TTA) provider. The program's outcomes are improved functioning of MDTs, enhanced professional competencies of CAC personnel and Chapter staff, decreased isolation, and increased access to resources.
Provider Organization
National Children's Advocacy Center
Award Details
Services
SRCAC provides TTA through national, regional, and state conferences; information dissemination; onsite TA and team training; multidisciplinary and discipline-specific training; use of innovative technology and learning platforms; CAC leadership development; and chapter development to strengthen state networks and develop new programs.
Audience
- Child Protection and Advocacy Professionals
- Child Welfare Personnel
- Law Enforcement
- Mental Health Professionals
- Prosecutors
- State Chapter Organizations
- Tribal Community
- Victim Advocates
Eligibility
Child abuse professionals associated with a multidisciplinary team or CAC and Chapter organizations in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC.
Website
Through the SRCAC project, NCAC provides customized TTA, conference and workshop presentations, scholarship opportunities, webinars, and other learning experiences to professionals and leadership at CAC and Chapter organizations and for multidisciplinary teams and facilitators within the Southern region of the United States. Specific products include: Board of Directors Blueprint (self-paced online learning); video series on secondary traumatic stress; Chapter Readiness Guides series (guides for Chapter organizations available at https://www.srcac.org/resource/nca-and-rcacs-support-for-chapters); and Chapter MDT Community of Practice (peer group). In the last year, SRCAC has also developed and disseminated the following publication: The Human Resources Toolkit for Children's Advocacy Centers.
Emily Chittenden-Laird
Project Director
[email protected]
304–647–0117
- Abuse and Neglect
- Child Advocacy/Protection
- Maltreatment
- Performance Measures