NCJ Number
237760
Date Published
April 2010
Length
37 pages
Annotation
This document examines how the Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center (CAC) uses mobile CACs to improve care for underserved children and their families.
Abstract
The primary aim of the manual is to provide communities with information and guidance about the development, operation, and potential value of using mobile CACs for reaching the underserved child victims of sexual and physical abuse as well as their families. The benefits of mobile CACs include reducing a child's trauma, ensuring that all children do not have to travel to receive services, providing prompt and ongoing services tailored to the needs of the child, processing cases in the court system more quickly, and holding more offenders accountable by coordinating investigative and interview procedures. The manual describes the work of the Western Kansas CAC (WKCAC) in its successful efforts to develop and use a mobile CAC. Western Kansas's mobile CAC consists of a converted mobile home with state-of-the-art recording equipment, a forensic interview room, a multidisciplinary team room, and a child- and family-friendly waiting area. The services offered by the WKCAC include forensic interviewing, extended forensic evaluation, trauma focused therapy, closed-circuit television, and child and family advocacy. The manual also provides information for use by county officials in determining if a mobile CAC is right for their community. The manual breaks down the costs associated with obtaining, converting, and operating a mobile CAC. The final portion of the manual provides a detailed set of steps for creating a mobile unit. Tables and appendixes