Working in tandem with NCA are the four Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers. The Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers were established by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and although they are funded separately from both NCA and local child advocacy centers, they serve communities with the same mission, vision and dedication. The RCACs offer a full range of training, technical assistance, consultation and information to established and developing children’s advocacy centers.
Each RCAC is located within an accredited children’s advocacy program, which keeps them grounded with the day-to-day work of advocacy centers and allows them to more effectively pursue their common objective of helping both established and developing child advocacy centers. The RCACs assist communities in the following areas:
- Assessing a community’s capacity to provide services through a Needs Assessment and Feasibility Study
- Developing a comprehensive, multidisciplinary response to child abuse, with a particular emphasis on using the children’s advocacy center model
Developing and negotiating interagency agreements, protocols and Memoranda of Understanding - Maintaining open communication and case coordination among community professionals and agencies involved in child protection efforts
- Enhancing professional skills among the interdisciplinary partners
Coordinating and providing training to the disciplines represented on the multidisciplinary team - Identifying and developing funding and marketing strategies
- Strengthening the organizational capacity of children’s advocacy centers and child abuse programs
- Assisting with plans for program expansion
- Increasing community understanding of child abuse
- Clarifying membership standards and criteria
- Assisting with applications for membership with NCA and assisting with site visits for accreditation
The four RCACs are as follows:
Northeast Regional
Serving Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Midwest Regional
Serving Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Southern Regional
Serving Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Western Regional
Serving Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
