CHILDRENS JUSTICE & ADVOCACY CENTER
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Mission Statement
We serve victims of child abuse and their families and provide a collaborative and compassionate community response.
About This Cause
CJAC leads the Cowlitz County Multi-Disciplinary Team's response to reduce the impact of child abuse by bringing together law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, mental health, medical, and victim advocacy professionals in a child-friendly setting to investigate abuse and, most importantly, to help children heal physically and emotionally from trauma. Child abuse is one of the most prominent threats to the health of our community. CJAC reduces the negative health outcomes associated with child abuse by our therapeutic response to victims. CJAC coordinates and assists the child and family to access and complete specialized forensic medical treatment and specialized mental health treatment. These services extend not only to the child victim of abuse, but also to the non-offending caregivers and siblings of the child, who we treat as secondary victims (instances of child abuse impact the health and well-being of the entire family). CJAC also works with the family to identify any barriers to accessing resources and services in order to increase the family’s social support system. Increasing a family’s support system and insuring access to appropriate treatment have been identified as factors that reduce societal rates of child abuse. CJAC is an important part of this solution. CJAC also improves the health outcomes of our counties through prevention work to reduce the frequency in which child abuse occurs. Our education and prevention activities instruct adults in our community in how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child abuse. While the majority of the children we serve are referred to CJAC following allegations of sexual abuse or assault, CJAC also works with victims of physical abuse, children who are found in drug endangered environments, severe instances of neglect, children who have witnessed violent crimes, kidnapping and attempted kidnapping victims, and child victims of other forms of maltreatment. CJAC’s services also extend to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other vulnerable adults in our community.