The Emerald Coast Children's Advocacy Center is a not-for-profit agency that,
along with our partner agencies, provides services in Okaloosa and Walton Counties
which
prevent child abuse
reduce the trauma of sexual and physical abuse
protect and treat child abuse victims and their families
while holding offenders accountable
restore the lives and futures of abused, neglected, and drug-endangered children and their
families.
Guiding
Principles
:
In fulfilling our mission the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center
embraces these guiding principles:
To bring together
and facilitate the work of professionals from our partner agencies: the State
Attorney’s Office, the Child Protection Team, the Florida Department of
Children and Families and area law enforcement agencies under one roof in a
child-friendly environment
To provide intervention and therapeutic treatment services at no charge
to child victims of abuse and their families
To offer child abuse prevention education and training in Okaloosa and
Walton Counties
To
connect children and families traumatized by abuse with needed community
resources
To report
abuse call: 1-800-96-Abuse
The Problem...
The system of processing a child
who has
been abused was not working. It was antiquated, fragmented, harsh
and ineffective. It
required the child to be bounced around to as many as a dozen places to
be interviewed,
examined, deposed and assessed by new, strange faces asking new, often
confusing
questions. And usually, because of this treatment, the child became so
frustrated, so
frightened, so alone, that he or she gave up... or simply gave out...
and refused to
testify or recants the original allegations. The perpetrator was never charged,
the child became a repeat victim, and the trained, dedicated professionals who were
handcuffed by this
impossible system became frustrated... because their efforts had
failed.
The
Solution...
The Children's Advocacy Center
is the
solution. It creates an entirely new system... one that
is protective of the victim. It provides a child-friendly place where
all the interviews, examinations and assessments are conducted under
one roof, in a supportive environment. But most important, the
Children's Advocacy Center unlocks the handcuffs which bind the law
enforcement, protective services, medical, mental health and
prosecution professionals... and allows them to do their job of saving
victimized children from further abuse and bringing child abusers to
justice!
The Emerald
Coast Children's Advocacy Center, Inc. is certified by IRS as a
501.(c)(3)not-for-profit/charitable corporation.
