Children's Advocacy Center

The Children’s Advocacy Center convenes a team of professionals to protect and heal children who have experienced the trauma of sexual abuse.

The Rhode Island Children's Advocacy Centers

Our Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) has four locations around the state in Kent, Newport, Providence, and Washington Counties.

• Facilitates a coordinated response and services including forensic interviewing, family advocacy, mental health referrals and services to children and families impacted by sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, witness to violence and adults with intellectual disabilities.
• Established MDT Advisory Committee meetings in each county to ensure all disciplines have an input into their county’s CAC and the agreed upon MDT protocols.
• Centralized referral and intake will remain with current practice at agency location and contact information at the Day One Providence County site.

The Rhode Island Children's Network - State Chapter of Children's Advocacy Centers

• Provides technical assistance to CAC sites for growth and development of the CAC and MDT model for the investigation, treatment, and healing of child abuse cases. 
• Leads an advisory meeting with statewide representation from MDT disciplines and service providers.
• Provides statewide training and education opportunities for the multidisciplinary team.
• Engages in legislative matters related to child abuse and related matters.
• Participates in statewide coalitions and task forces representing the best practices of the national CAC model.

The CAC Model

Our Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) has four locations around the state and is accredited by the National Children’s Alliance (NCA) as a unique resource for Rhode Island residents.

• The CAC model results in less trauma and re-victimization for the child, efficient teamwork, and successful collaborations.
• Provides an array of wrap-around services, including case management, crisis intervention, clinical interventions, and criminal justice advocacy, the latter contributing to increased prosecution rates.
• The CAC provides follow up services for the child and non-offending caregivers up to a year.

What is the CAC?

From the initial point of disclosure, the CAC team engages in safety planning and service referrals for wrap-around care of child victims. We support families with a trained forensic interviewer while a team of agency professionals observes by video from another room. The child is told about the equipment in the interview room and made aware of the observation team before the interview.

The needs of the child victim and their non-offending family members are the absolute priority, and children are never forced into answering questions. The CAC provides a child friendly environment for the interview and follow up services.

Children's Advocacy Center Services

Addressing the critical issue of childhood sexual abuse and the burgeoning problem of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), Day One offers a child-centered environment to help abused children heal.

Forensic Interviews

A detailed, non-leading, and legally sound interview occurs in a neutral and child-friendly setting by a trained forensic interviewer. Our goal is to avoid duplicate interviews, reduce re-victimization, and get at the truth of what happened. These interviews can be used in grand jury to help limit the number of times a child must tell the story of what happened.

Medical Evaluations

Referral and coordination of a medical evaluation by board certified child abuse pediatricians at Hasbro Children’s Hospital/Aubin Center, a member of our MDT.

Mental Health Counseling

Counseling is available at Day One or we can assist with making appropriate referrals to other providers who specialize in sexual abuse and trauma. All Day One counselors are master’s level licensed clinicians with experience in trauma-focused counseling. Individual, group, or family counseling is available.

Advocacy and Support

Staff advocates can provide information about victim rights, the justice system, safety planning, restraining order information, and serve as a liaison to families during the court process, as well as provide resource information. A family advocate is also available to provide on-going follow-up services including, support and education, crisis intervention, in-home supports, needed assessments, and family planning. Our advocates work closely with police and prosecution advocates so children and families receive continuous support.

Child Pornography

Day One is also addressing the statewide response to child pornography and how children and families are affected. Through this collaborative effort with other partner agencies, we have successfully been able to address the need for wrap-around services and direct care to this population. The Human Trafficking program has developed CP training that is delivered to communities and partner agencies. This ongoing research and education has significantly impacted our service delivery to survivors of Human Trafficking and Child Pornography.

Multi-Discliplinary Team

Day One collaborates with a team of professionals to provide wrap-around care. Our Multi-Disciplinary Teaming (MDT) process is designed to ensure the medical, social services, and law enforcement response to child sex trafficking is victim-centered. The team assesses the child’s immediate need and develops a safety plan. The goal of the MDT process is the stabilization and well being of the child, as well as assisting with the law enforcement investigation.

Still have questions?

Get some answers to frequently asked questions about the CAC.

Learn More to Fight Against Child Sexual Abuse

Help Stop Child Sexual Abuse Before It Starts

View the infographic to learn more about what you can do to prevent child sexual abuse.

Practice Body Safety with Your Children

Learn more about what you can do on our body safety page. Or, check out the poster with tips to help children practice body safety.

Locations

Day One