ACCREDITATION INFORMATION

The Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois (CACI) supports local child advocacy centers that are seeking accreditation from the National Children's Alliance (NCA). The following program components are necessary for accredited membership in NCA:

Multidisciplinary Team (MDT):

A Children's Advocacy Center has a multidisciplinary team for response to child abuse allegations which includes representation from the following:

• Law Enforcement
• Child Protective Services
• Prosecution
• Medical
• Mental Health
• Victim Advocacy
• Children's Advocacy Center

Cultural Competency and Diversity:

A Children's Advocacy Center’s (CAC) culturally competent services are routinely made available to all CAC clients and coordinated with the multidisciplinary team response.

Forensic Interviews:

A Children's Advocacy Center's forensic interviews are conducted in a manner that is legally sound, of a neutral, fact finding nature, and are coordinated to avoid duplicative interviewing.

Victim Support and Advocacy:

A Children's Advocacy Center’s (CAC) victim support and advocacy services are routinely made available to all CAC clients and their non-offending family members as part of the multidisciplinary team response.

Medical Evaluation:

A Children's Advocacy Center’s (CAC) specialized medical evaluation and treatment services are routinely made available to all CAC clients and coordinated with the multidisciplinary team response.

Mental Health:

A Children's Advocacy Center's specialized trauma-focused mental health services, designed to meet the unique needs of the children and non-offending family members, are routinely made available as part of the multidisciplinary team response.

Case Review:

A Children's Advocacy Center’s formal process in which multidisciplinary discussion and information sharing regarding the investigation, case status and services needed by the child and family is to occur on a routine basis.

Case Tracking:

Children's Advocacy Centers must develop and implement a system for monitoring case progress and tracking case outcomes for all multidisciplinary components.

Organizational Capacity:

A designated legal entity responsible for program and fiscal operations has been established and implements basic sound administrative policies and procedures.

Child-Focused Setting:

A Children's Advocacy Center's child-focused setting is comfortable, private and both physically and psychologically safe for diverse populations of children and their non-offending family members.