About MRCAC
Funded by the US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Midwest Regional Children's Advocacy Center offers a full range of training and technical assistance to developed and developing children's advocacy centers.
The MRCAC operates in pursuit of several objectives that can be divided into five broad areas, as follows:
- development of multi-disciplinary teams/CACs
- coordination of training and technical assistance
- promotion of public awareness and general education
- process evaluation methods
- exploration of the development of models for constituent involvement
The intent of our services is to assist new communities with program start-up and strengthen prospective and existing centers by supporting their passage through developmental stages. The goal of the intervention is to assure coordinated, non-traumatizing services to children and their families who are victims of abuse and neglect. Community/CAC needs addressed by the MRCAC include:
START-UP NEEDS
- Conflict resolution
- Institutional and community barriers
- Team Building
- Continuity of resources and personnel
- Clarifying roles among disciplines
- Interview training and skills development
- Physician training
- Law enforcement
- Protocol development and operational manuals/managerial expertise
- Establishing funding streams to create free standing facilities
- Follow-up care and treatment
- Strengthening legislative mandates and public policy formation
- Networking
ADVANCED TRAINING NEEDS
- Regional coordination and the development of regional centers
- Best practices and ways to keep up with the changing knowledge base
- Cross-training for multidisciplinary teams
- Computer based tracking and follow-up
- Building counseling capacity for follow-up and treatment
- Building linkages from investigation to treatment
ACTIVITIES
1. Assisting in the development of CACs through the following means:
a) education/training that is tailored to the needs of the individual CAC/community
b) providing technical assistance to developing and existing CACs to promote growth and development of CACs in our region, including, but not limited to:
1. board development
2. MDT building
3. CAC 101
4. Protocol development
5. Needs and Feasibility Assessment
2. Working in collaboration with NCA and the other three regional CACs to provide state-of-the-art, up to the minute information on what CACs need, to provide training/education and to work under the auspices of the national standards.
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