Kids First Child Advocacy Center of the 9th Judicial District
History of the Child Advocacy Center of the Ninth Judicial District
The State of Tennessee mandates victims of child abuse, between birth and the age of 17 be served by a Child Advocacy Center. This belief became law more than 25 years ago. The Tennessee Code Annotated or T.C.A., Part 6- Child Sexual Abuse, 37-1-607, states alleged victims of severe child abuse must be served by a Child Advocacy Center. This law led a Steering Committee of three to seek funding, a location, and employees needed to establish a Child Advocacy Center. The Child Advocacy Center of the Ninth Judicial District began serving victims of child abuse in April 2002. By 2005, we had grown our staff by 40% and were able to provide clinical and therapeutic services, needed for healing complex trauma caused by child abuse. There is never a fee for any of our services, regardless of how long the child and non-offending caregiver are clients of the Child Advocacy Center.
Since opening the CAC, we have received over 6,500 referrals from the Department of Children’s Services and Law Enforcement. We have served more than 4,500 victims of child abuse and their non-offending caregivers. We have provided our school-based intervention/prevention program, Stop Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) to more than 100 schools and 32,000 children attending kindergarten, first, third, fifth and seventh grades. Our Teen Mom Education/Support Program is school based and serves Loudon County High School students and Meigs County High School students. This evidence-based curriculum has served more than 120 teen moms and teen dads.
On the staff of the Child Advocacy Center is authorized Stewards of Children facilitator, Chris Evans-Longmire. Chris offers this evidence-based adult education program to adults of youth-serving organizations, parents, law enforcement and others dedicated to serving children. Stewards of Children educates adults on recognizing the signs of grooming, signs of child abuse, how to minimize opportunity and prevent child abuse, how to receive a child’s disclosure and how to report suspected or reported child abuse.
Thus far Stewards of Children has almost reached the tipping point for the 9th Judicial District by educating more than 3,400 of 5,400 adults (which is the population of adults over the age of 18 residing within the 9th Judicial District).
Our staff consists’ of one full-time Executive Director, 2 Forensic Interviewers, Sexual Assault Advocate, Family Services Specialist, 3 therapists, 1 Clinical Supervisor and 1 forensic medical examiner.
Our funding sources include state and federal grants that are secured through a competitive process. We partner with local United Way agencies, private foundations, and our city/county government. Also, we are supported by churches, civic groups, corporations and fundraisers and members of the communities we serve.
Established within the 9th Judicial District are 4 Child Protective Investigative Teams (CPIT). Each CPIT team includes a representative from law enforcement, District Attorney General’s office (DAG), Department of Children’s Services, mental health professionals, medical providers, and key staff members of the Child Advocacy Center. CPIT meetings occur monthly, within each of the four counties we serve. The CPIT team not only serves, investigates, and prosecutes cases served by the CAC, we offer recommendations to our DAG as to which cases we believe are prosecutable.
The CAC earned Accreditation by the National Children’s Alliance (NCA) in 2005. NCA has 10 Standards that must be achieved and maintained in order for a CAC to earn Accreditation. The Standards include Multidisciplinary Team Standard, Diversity, Equity and Access of Services, Forensic Interview Standard, Medical Evaluation, Victim Support and Advocacy, Mental Health Standard, Case Review and Coordination Standard, Case Tracking, Organizational Capacity and Child Safety and Protection Standard. These standards help ensure that all children, served by a CAC, receive consistent, evidence-based and trauma-informed services; to promote healing, justice and safety.
Stop Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN)
It is for this reason we deliver a school-based intervention/prevention program, Stop Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) to schools within the Ninth Judicial District. SCAN is a school-based program and is offered to children in kindergarten, first, third, fifth and seventh grades. The young children enjoy a puppet show while older grades enjoy a video/dvd and discussion about safety and boundaries. The program teaches children about safe and unsafe touches and who to tell if ever in a situation that makes the child uncomfortable or if someone asks the child to keep “secrets” about touches, movies, pictures, etc…
Teen Mom Education Program
A second piece of our Outreach Program is our Teen Mom Education Program. We have been providing our Teen Parent Education Program to schools for the past 10 years. The Teen Parent Education Program is a 16-week curriculum that is school-based. This program educates teen parents child development, age-appropriate discipline, community resources, stress management, potty training and many other areas related to parenting a young child. The program encourages teen parents to graduate high school while creating an environment of support versus judgement. Many of the teen parents we serve feel isolated, so this class works as a support group as well. Based on the pre and post test scores, an increased level of understanding and comprehension of child development is demonstrated.
Services
- Forensic Interviews
- Victim Services
- Therapy
- Forensic Medical Examinations
- Services For The Drug-endangered Child
- School-based Intervention/Prevention Program
- Education Group of Teen Moms (school-based)
- Adult Survivor Group & Resource Library Provider
- Provider of Community Education
Staff Positions
Kids First Child Advocacy Center- Began serving victims and survivors experiencing severe acts of child abuse (sexual, physical, drug-endangered children and children witnessing homicides) in 2002. We are a 501c3, private non-profit, providing trauma-focused and evidence-based services at no cost to those we serve. All services are delivered on-site or within the community.
Annual Reports
Forensic Interviewer
Forensic Interviewer has received specialized training enabling her to interview victims and obtain information in a non-threatening or leading manner. The Forensic Interviewer must remain true to the Forensic Interviewer Protocol adopted by the CAC of the Ninth Judicial District and approved by the District Attorney General of the Ninth Judicial District.
Victim Services
This position works with the non-offending caregivers, educating the caregiver on the role of the CAC through the intake process. She discusses the services we offer and the judicial system. The Victim Services Specialist accompanies the victim to the hearing, familiarizes the victim and the family with the courthouse and the prosecution process. She assists non-offending caregivers in completing Victim’s Compensation applications, makes internal referrals for therapy and helps families seek resources within their communities. She offers parenting classes to non-offending caregivers, court mandated, and is responsible for implementing and monitoring the many “Resource Libraries” located in more than 15 schools within the 9th District and made possible by grants from the United Way of Loudon County, United Way of Roane County and the Citizens Utility District.
Family Advocate
This position works with non-offending caregivers as their children receive services from the CAC. She educates the family on the role of the CAC and the legal system. The Family Advocate serves drug-endangered children, priority given to children having been impacted by the use and/or manufacturing of methamphetamines, too. She provides in-home services that include parenting, budgeting, sobriety, managing stress and other areas of need that may be demonstrated by the drug-endangered child. The Family Advocate works with the caregivers as to reduce out-of-home placements, irrational behavior displayed by the caregivers due to active addiction, and to instigate positive change based on tools for successful parenting, time management, budgeting, and treatment for drug/alcohol dependence.
Therapist
This position works with the client and the client’s caregivers. She offers support, education, and coping skills for the client as well as the non-offending caregivers and adult survivors. Also, one of the Therapists provides community education related to child abuse, community support groups, school education/training and inter-agency collaboration and coordinates our school-based curriculum, Stop Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) and our Outreach Program. Our Outreach Program is made up of both our school-based SCAN Program and our Teen Mom Education Program. SCAN seeks to educate children between the ages of 5-13 on safe and unsafe touches, bullying, internet safety (age-appropriate) and to tell someone if a child experiences unsafe touches or is asked to keep secrets from caregivers that involve unsafe touches or pictures. Our Teen Mom Education Program is also school-based and is offered in two (2) of our counties. It is a 12–14-week curriculum and educates young mothers on well-baby check-ups, child development, appropriate discipline, potty-training, selecting a caregiver, utilizing community resources, and taking care of themselves as they feel very isolated and over-whelmed. The program encourages these moms to continue school and graduate with their diploma, refrain from additional unplanned pregnancies while seeking and securing prenatal care.
The statistics are better than 80% that these moms will graduate, not have a second pregnancy before their 18th birthday and their infants tend not to come into state’s custody at least while we are working with them.
Part-time Outreach Coordinator
Responsible for scheduling and delivering our school-based intervention/prevention program, SCAN, and out school-based Teen Mom Education Program to schools within the 9th Judicial District. The Outreach Coordinator seeks volunteer support for the SCAN Program’s delivery to kindergarten and first graders as theirs is a puppet show and has proven to be very effective in the education of young children on safe and unsafe situations. The Outreach Coordinator is responsible for meeting with school personnel of schools that have not been recipients of the SCAN Program in hopes they will join the CAC in the fight to protect children from abuse through education.
Administrative Assistant
Provides support to the Executive Director, staff and board of directors. This position assumes typical administrative duties and interacts with all clients as they become acquainted with the CAC. She is the Volunteer Coordinator, editor of the quarterly newsletter and coordinator of our annual Back to School Bash.
Executive Director
The Executive Director is responsible for: day-to-day operations, fiscal management, quality assurance, seeking, securing and implementation of grants, grant reporting, community education/support groups, program changes that will expedite services and improve service delivery, ensuring annual training needs for our Child Protective Investigative Team members are met by providing trainings applicable to each team member’s role and area of responsibility and for the authenticity of all services we offer. The Executive Director reports directly to the board of directors and is a member of the Child Protective Investigative Team.
Medical Services
Forensic Medical Examinations are performed by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE), FMNP that has undergone specialized, extensive training for this specialized medical evaluation. The Forensic Medical Exam ensures a child’s well-being while collecting any corroborating physical evidence.
Sexual Assault Advocate
This position works with the non-offending caregivers by educating them on the role of the CAC, they process of disclosure, the judicial system and the role of a CPIT. The S.A.A. may offer home visits, can accompany clients and non-offending caregivers to court, to file for legal services and protection, to obtain safe housing or to a victim’s compensation hearing. The S.A.A. provides support through services at the community-based level and is a member of community-based CABs (Community Based Advisory Boards) as well as other support groups designed to meet the needs of this population. She may assist the client and non-offending caregiver through intervention with an academic institution, in the purchasing of clothes, turning on electricity or paying a bill necessary to keep the family in a safe setting. The S.A.A. offers parenting classes and a group support group.