Uplifting Child Victims
The Barren River Area Child Advocacy Center provides children and their non-offending family members with advocacy and support, coordination of the investigation process and critical direct services for children ages 0-17 living in Allen, Barren, Butler, Edmonson, Hart, Logan, Metcalfe, Monroe, Simpson and Warren Counties.
What to Expect
The Child Advocacy Center has been thoughtfully designed to create a safe and welcoming environment where children and families feel comfortable during investigations and when accessing vital services. The facility is child-friendly, with calming colors, cozy seating areas, and age-appropriate toys that help reduce anxiety. Two separate waiting rooms exist, one for interviews and one for therapy, to give families a private spot to wait instead of a 'public' waiting room for everyone being served at the center. Offenders are never permitted on site, ensuring a secure space where children can feel safe, cared for, and supported while receiving the help they need.
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Multidisciplinary Teams (MDT)
Multidisciplinary Teams (MDT)
The cornerstone of our work is the multidisciplinary team (MDT) that supports each county. These teams are made up of core agencies and professionals that respond when a report of child sexual abuse is made. Our MDT coordinators ensure all partners follow the protocols developed by each county MDT. All protocols are approved by the Commissions on Multidisciplinary Team on Child Sexual Abuse in Kentucky per KRS 431.600 and KRS 431.650.
Child Advocacy Center's
A Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) is a child-friendly, community-based facility that brings together professionals from multiple systems who are involved during a case of child abuse. When a case of abuse is reported to police or child protective services, the child is brought to their local CAC to receive support. During their visit to a CAC, the child victim tells their story once to a trained interviewer who knows the right questions to ask in a way that does not re-traumatize the child. Then a team that includes medical professionals, law enforcement, mental health, prosecution, child protective services, victim advocacy, and other professionals make decisions together about how to help the child based on the interview. CACs offer therapy, medical exams, court education, victims advocacy, and more.
