Press release
Following an extensive application and site review process, National Children’s Alliance recognizes the Justice for Children Advocacy Center (JFCAC) for its delivery of high-quality and effective services to child abuse victims through accreditation. As the accrediting agency for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) across the country, National Children’s Alliance awards various levels of accreditation and membership to centers responding to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient and put the needs of child victims of abuse first. Accreditation is the highest level of membership with National Children’s Alliance and denotes excellence in service provision.
The Justice for Children Advocacy Center has a long and successful history of providing services to children and families in the GLOW region. In 1992, Genesee Justice, a department of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, helped establish a multidisciplinary team to serve the unique needs of children that have been physically or sexually abused. With the support of many dedicated members of the community and the multidisciplinary team, the Justice for Children Advocacy Center opened its doors in Batavia in 1998. As the program grew, satellite offices in Albion and Warsaw were opened in 2017. The goal of the Justice for Children Advocacy Center is to provide a child-friendly location where highly trained professionals provide forensic interviews, medical examinations, mental health counseling, and advocacy services to children from birth to age 18 and their non-offending family members regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, or financial status. Since 1998, approximately 4,500 children have received services at the Justice for Children Advocacy Center, and in 2022, 274 children benefitted from the services available. As an Accredited Member of National Children’s Alliance, the Justice for Children Advocacy Center is dedicated to providing comprehensive, coordinated, and compassionate services to victims of child abuse.
National Children’s Alliance awards accredited membership based on a CAC’s compliance with 10 national standards of accreditation to ensure effective, efficient, and consistent delivery of services to child abuse victims. National Children’s Alliance updated these standards in 2017 to reflect the most recent evidence-based practices in the field of child abuse intervention and prevention. According to these standards, accredited members must utilize a functioning and effective multidisciplinary team approach to work collaboratively in child abuse investigation, prosecution, and treatment. National Children’s Alliance also considers standards regarding a center’s cultural competency and diversity, forensic interviews, victim support and advocacy, medical evaluation, therapeutic intervention, and child-focused setting.
“As a team of individuals who are fiercely devoted to professionally and compassionately responding to reports of child abuse, we strive to meet the highest standards of care for child victims and their loved ones. Accreditation from the National Children’s Alliance not only validates our organization’s proven effective approach to responding to allegations of child abuse but also provides consistency across the child advocacy center movement as a whole. A team response to child abuse is what we stand for, and it is our entire team that allows us to provide the highest level of care and service to children and families in our community,” said Theresa Roth, Justice for Children Advocacy Center Program Coordinator.
“The Justice for Children Advocacy Center is to be commended for its excellent work serving victims of child abuse. As the national association and accrediting body for Children’s Advocacy Centers across the country, our goal is to ensure that every victim of child abuse has access to high-quality services that result from professional collaboration,” remarked Teresa Huizar, Executive Director of National Children’s Alliance.
For more information about the Justice for Children Advocacy Center, visit them on Facebook @justiceforchildrencac.
The mission of the Justice for Children Advocacy Center and Justice for Children Multi-Disciplinary Team is to seek to reduce the incidence of child sexual and physical abuse, to minimize trauma to alleged child victims, and to promote healing for victims and their families by collaborating with a variety of professionals to provide services at a single, child-friendly facility. The Justice for Children Advocacy Center and Justice for Children Multi-Disciplinary Team work to improve the response to child abuse by eliminating multiple interviews and examinations of children, providing quick access to medical and mental health, victim advocacy, and support services for children and families, and enhancing multidisciplinary communication and coordination with a singular focus on the best interest of the child.
National Children’s Alliance makes one big difference, one child and one voice at a time. As the nonprofit association and accrediting body providing comprehensive care through hundreds of Children’s Advocacy Centers nationwide, we unify and amplify our voices to command better outcomes. With a forward-thinking approach that stays at the forefront of every child’s future, we are the beginning of child abuse’s end. For more information, visit nationalchildrensalliance.org.