Children’s Advocacy Center

We believe every child deserves a safe place to be heard.

The Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) acts as a neutral, third-party hub whose purpose is coordinating services and safe, child-sensitive support to children and their non-offending family members. The CAC also provides evidence-based, age-appropriate prevention education to the DeKalb County community.

Report suspected child abuse, neglect, or exploitation:
1-800-25ABUSE (1-800-252-2873) or online

How CACs Help Kids

Services

Forensic Interviews

Research shows the CAC's one-time interview with a specially trained forensic interviewer relieves some of the additional trauma the child would experience with several separate interviews.

Caregiver & Family Support

We provide crisis intervention services and resources to families involved with the CAC. One of the most effective ways to prevent further instances of abuse is to equip the adults in a youth's life with knowledge and tools to foster safety and resilience.

Trauma Assessments

We offer various youth assessments to measure risk, needs, protective factors, mental health, emotional wellbeing, and trauma history.

Counseling Referrals

We provide referrals to children and their family members to our Center for Counseling and other partner agencies to help process trauma, build resilience, and live healthier lives.

Court Proceedings

We continue to support and advocate for children and families through any legal proceedings that may follow an investigation. This may include locating legal aide, completing paperwork, or simply providing emotional support.

Medical Evaluations

We partner with MERIT to provide non-invasive pediatric medical evaluations to ensure a child's overall well-being when there is an allegation and/or disclosure of abuse.

Our Prevention Efforts

Learn More

We are dedicated to providing evidence-based, trauma-informed prevention education across DeKalb County, catering to diverse groups such as children, adults, educators, law enforcement officials, professionals, and businesses. We take pride in crafting presentations that are meticulously customized to meet each audience's unique needs and concerns. Our comprehensive range of topics includes critical issues like child abuse prevention, the implementation of Erin's Law, understanding grooming behaviors, combating human trafficking, addressing online exploitation, tackling commercial sexual exploitation, and implementing effective strangulation protocols. These presentations are designed to raise awareness and empower individuals and organizations with the knowledge and tools needed to protect themselves and others from harm. By tailoring our education to the specific requirements of each group, we ensure that our messages resonate effectively and drive meaningful change in our community.

Our K-12 Partners

Duo Dog Laddie

Duo Dog Laddie comforts and supports children before forensic interviews, counseling, and other times when they might need extra reassurance. He does the same for our staff! Laddie was trained by Duo Dogs in St. Louis, Missouri, and he joined Family Service Agency in February 2022. He is a highly trained professional who approaches his job with enthusiasm and boundless affection. He loves to meet new people, especially the children FSA serves. When Laddie isn't busy with his very important job, he likes napping, getting pets, eating snacks, and hanging out with his brother, Cooper!

Research has shown that a dog at a Children’s Advocacy Center lends a homelike atmosphere to the center. A child encountering a calm, friendly dog at the CAC feels they are visiting someone’s home and that the facility dog lives there. The presence of an engaging, professionally trained facility dog can be an essential part of creating a sense of safety and security for children and their families. (Courthouse Dogs Foundation, 2015).

Resources

The Medical Evaluation Response Initiative Team (MERIT) has a mission to provide all children suspected of physical or sexual abuse with timely expert medical evaluations and treatment. The MERIT team includes Dr. Ray Davis, Board Certified in child abuse evaluations, Shannon Krueger, MSN, APRN, CPNP-PC, SANE-P and Heather Sharp, MSN, APRN, CPNP-PC, SANE-P.

Pediatric evaluations are conducted with the utmost care and are not, in any way, painful or traumatic. Unlike the images we all have in our minds as to what a medical evaluation might look like for a child involved in an abuse investigation, everything about the evaluation is completely external. Rather, it is very much like a typical child wellness exam. These evaluations are typically done at the CAC office, and we are happy to answer any questions your may have and/or give you a tour of our new on-site medical room.

Please call 815-758-8616 with any questions.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission is to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization. NCMEC works with families, victims, private industry, law enforcement, and the public to assist with preventing child abductions, recovering missing children, and providing services to deter and combat child sexual exploitation.

Resources:

Cyber Tipline is the place to report child sexual exploitation
Remove Explicit Content:
- NCMEC offers a service called Take It Down, which helps remove nude, partially nude or sexually explicit photos and videos of underage people by assigning a unique digital fingerprint, called a hash value, to the images or videos. Online platforms can use those hash values to detect these images or videos on their public or unencrypted services and take action to remove this content.

As an accredited Children's Advocacy Center, we have an approved protocol that provides a formal, comprehensive, integrated, and multidisciplinary response to the investigation and disposition of child maltreatment in DeKalb County. This document outlines our approach to collaborative decision making and case management among our partnering agencies, thereby reducing the number of times children are questioned and examined, thus preventing further trauma.

Read Our Protocol

Why do we do what we do?

Research reveals that 1 in 10 children will experience sexual abuse before turning 18, meaning at least two children in every Pre-K to 12th-grade classroom are affected before they graduate. This statistic differs from the older, often quoted "1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys" figure, which originated from a CDC study over 25 years ago. A 2013 report by Darkness to Light updated this estimate to 1 in 10.

The Child Advocacy Center (CAC) coordinates investigations into child abuse, including sexual and physical abuse, trafficking, and exploitation. We collaborate closely with multi-disciplinary partners—such as the state's attorney, DCFS, law enforcement, medical teams, trauma teams, advocates, and forensic interviewers—to ensure that every child and non-offending family member receives the safety, treatment, and justice they deserve.

For over 30 years, Child Advocacy Centers have used a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach that reduces trauma for children. This approach has led to increased felony prosecutions of child sexual abusers, more referrals for trauma services, and higher satisfaction among non-offending caregivers with the investigative process.

Watch Our Children's Advocacy Center Testimonial Video

Content warning: this video may not be appropriate for young audiences or those sensitive to topics of child maltreatment.

Email the Director

To learn more about our services please call 815-758-8616.