DAKOTA CHILDRENS ADVOCACY CENTER
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Mission Statement
To provide compassionate and effective investigative and intervention services for children and families who have experienced abuse, trauma, or victimization. We provide specialized trauma services in an environment that is safe, secure, and family friendly.
About This Cause
The DCAC offers services to children & young adults & their families when they are suspected victims of abuse/neglect, witnessed violence, &/or trafficked. Families and agencies who utilize our services are never billed for services they receive at the center. Providing free services to families helps alleviate the enormous stress these families are experiencing. Our current services are: Research-Based Forensic Interview Process is a structured and developmentally sensitive conversation with a child that is designed to elicit information that either corroborates or refutes allegations of abuse. This allows a child to tell of their experience in a safe, child friendly facility by someone who is trained in developmentally appropriate questioning, as well as forensics, so the interview will be admissible in court. All investigative parties participate in the interview via closed circuit television so that the child only has to tell their story of abuse one time. Expert Medical Evaluations are available to children in need of care. Child abuse is a unique issue as it not only causes mental health trauma, but can also leave physical scars. Because of this, the DCAC offers specialized medical evaluations & follow up to families to identify, treat & heal not only medical trauma (i.e. STD’s, fractures, pregnancy), but to also provide referrals and medical care to kids that might not otherwise seek or receive services. The DCAC has specially trained providers who conduct a well-child check-up, including referrals for follow up on immunizations & dental care. Initial and OnGoing Advocacy Services are provided to all families receiving services at the DCAC. Research has shown that the number one predictor of a child healing from an abusive situation is the initial supportive response from their primary caregiver. The DCAC offers advocacy services to all families seen at the center to help them through the difficult time. Advocacy services include, but are not limited to, information, referral, education, support, assistance with the criminal justice process, and assistance with personal needs such as transportation, clothing & food. Trauma Focused Evidenced Based Counseling is available to kids and their families, including telehealth. Evidenced Based Treatments are important because these therapies have been extensively studied & repeatedly shown to be effective in reducing a specific symptom or behavior. Family’s & referral agencies are confident that the kids are receiving the best of care. Education & Prevention. While there is no one thing we can do to guarantee our children will be safe from abuse, there are things we can do to decrease the likelihood. In order to protect children from abuse, both children & adults need to be educated. The DCAC offers a variety of education & prevention programs for adults, children and team members across the state. Studies show that 1 in 10 children will be sexually abused before turning 18 and 80% of people who seek mental health services have experienced a trauma in their lifetime. Over 90% of people in prison have experience abuse & a high majority of alcohol & drug users have a trauma history. The DCAC offers services to provide support, help create community safety, help them physically heal, teach self regulation skills, & to prevent abuse from ever happening or happen again in the future. But there is still so much to do. With additional funding we can decrease our waitlist, increase access to both medical & mental health care, actively work to prevent abuse & expand our reach to meet the continually growing need for families in our state. Families who are not safe live in a dis-regulated state of survival. They do not have the capacity to learn or contribute in the same those who feel safe do. We are here to help.