Our Mission
To Promote the Well-Being of Children Through
Prevention, Education, Treatment, and Advocacy.
Every child has the right to a safe and loving home, as well as the opportunity to experience childhood. Unfortunately, millions of children in the U.S. face abuse, neglect, or abandonment, often finding themselves caught in an overburdened child welfare system. Many remain adrift for months or years, facing additional trauma.
We are a non-profit organization promoting children’s well-being through treatment, advocacy, prevention, and education. We provide space for all CAPS programs and a child-friendly setting for a multidisciplinary response to abuse and neglect. Our services offer immediate follow-up on abuse reports, coordinated medical and mental health referrals, fewer victim interviews, increased prosecution success, and consistent support for victims and non-offending family members. In June 2004, we became the first nationally accredited CAC in the state. Our services are comprehensive and community-oriented.
“We were appointed to a case involving a young boy who had been through a lot in his short life. He’d been seriously injured in a car accident that left him with a spinal cord injury. Doctors said he would likely never crawl or walk again. Then, not long after the accident, his mother passed away.
Two grandmothers stepped in, both wanting to care for him. It was clear he was loved by both. One provided constant care and comfort, doing everything for him. The other also cared deeply for him, but encouraged him to try things on his own and gently pushed him to do more than what others thought possible.
As we got to know the family and observed how he responded in each setting, we saw how important it was for him to be in an environment that supported both his healing and his growth. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we were grateful to be able to share what we observed and offer our perspective to the court.
Today, he’s able to crawl and walk — things no one expected. More importantly, he’s beginning to believe in what he can do. We don’t take credit for that, but we do feel that helping the court think carefully about placement made a difference in his journey.
This case reminded us that small insights — shared with thoughtfulness — can have a lasting impact.”
– From the perspective of a husband and wife CASA team
One day in the life of a child we serve.
The feelings and thoughts are real. These are moments we would never want a child to experience but I can tell you they do, everyday, here in our community. When words can’t tell you the pain, fear and loneliness they feel. Look into their eyes. So many people just looked away. Please don’t be another person who just walks away and does nothing. You can make a difference. Volunteer, advocate, educate yourself, your friends, relatives and community, donate. One person can change the world. Offer hope. Be that person. The one who does what’s not easy but what’s right and just.
Child abuse doesn’t just affect the child being abused and not all the scars left behind when a child is abused are visible, physical scars. All too often the scars of maltreatment manifest themselves in other signficant ways. Abused and neglected children are 53% more likely to be arrested for juvenile crime, 38% more likely to be arrested as an adult. More than 50% of the women in the nation’s jails and prisons reported abuse as a child; teenagers with alcohol problems are 21 times more likely to have been sexually abused than those without such problems; more than 1/3 of all abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse.
Childhood trauma and maltreatment affect neurological development.
This can result in hypervigilance, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and poor impulse control, even when there are no visible injuries.
Survivors often struggle with trust, intimacy, and boundary-setting. This can impair friendships, romantic partnerships, parenting, and employment, despite an outwardly functional appearance.
Victims of child abuse are at increased risk for PTSD, depression, anxiety, dissociation, eating disorders, and self-injury.
Abused children may show speech delays, developmental regression, or difficulty with age-appropriate behavior due to emotional trauma. These may be misinterpreted as behavior problems instead of signs of invisible trauma.
Children who have experienced maltreatment are significantly more likely to: have poor academic performance, be suspended or expelled, drop out of school, and/or be labeled with behavioral disorders.
Once upon a time is now. Make a difference. Support our services, volunteer for our special projects, tour our facility, know your options to prevent and treat family and community-based violence; if not for your sake, for a friends, or relatives, or someone as valuable as a child in our community.