This two day MDT enrichment conference features highly regarded speakers in their fields representing each discipline, with separate tracks for participants to choose from that will best meet their professional development needs.

CACI CHOSEN AS MAY/JUNE "DONATION CREATION" RECIPIENT!

CACI was grateful to Brent & Melissa Schwoerer of Engrained Brewery & Restaurant in Springfield, for choosing us as their May/June Donation Creation recipient!

We certainly appreciate their support and generosity and are beyond thankful for their community commitment!
A Global Giving Movement November 27, 2018
#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.

Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.
Safe to Compete is a program of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children®(NCMEC) which provides access to resources to help youth-sports organizations and the families of child athletes protect those children from sexual abuse.

Protecting children and providing safe spaces for them to learn, play and grow is central to the mission of every youth-serving organization.
On July 11th and 12th, 40 mental health professionals who work in coordination with 19 Illinois Children’s Advocacy Center were trained in the evidence based psychotherapy approach, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TFCBT).

Attendees of this training are continuing their education with on-going follow up consultation calls, which occur twice per month. Ultimately, participants will then apply for their certification in this therapy model in December.

Dr. Melissa Runyon presented this two-day training, and is providing ongoing consultation, which is funded in part by the collective NCA Illinois Statewide Project Funds.

CACI is ecstatic that so many children throughout Illinois will be receiving one of the strongest evidence based models in trauma therapy as a result of this project!  

-Cara
Will County Community Response:
Pediatric Resource Center Presents:

Out of the Shadows: Confronting the Rise of Child-on-Child Harmful Sexual Behavior - National Center on Sexual Exploitation

Many CACs are working with youth with problematic sexual behaviors or are interested in doing so. Please see below for more information about this low-cost training. Please also note that there is a FREE live streaming option for those who can’t travel to the symposium. It’s so great to see this valuable work get highlighted in this way. We hope that many of you will join the live-streamed training, as the line-up of presenters is very solid. Please feel free to pass this along to your MDT members, as well. And, please note that there is complimentary registration to the in-person training for government employees.
CACI is kicking off our Building Resiliency Training starting with McHenry County on August 30th! Several CACs have scheduled this 4 hour training and we are excited to get started!

This is a FREE training for your MDT.  If you haven't already reached out to Mike to schedule this training, please feel free to do so.  

Resiliency training for MDTs is an Accreditation Standard. 

The NCAC Professional Bibliographies series provides guides to the literature for practitioners working with children and adolescents who have been sexually, emotionally or physically abused. These bibliographies provide citations with abstracts to selected publications on selected topics. Journal articles, books, chapters, and other publications that are reasonably available appear in the bibliographies.
Due to the fact the VOCA contracts do not include any expenses incurred from July 1-8, we are going to do budget modifications for anyone who wishes to go ahead and reallocate those funds at this time with the following timetable:
 
Budget Modifications due to CACI:       Friday August 31, by 5:00 p.m.
CACI Notification of Approval:         Monday October 1, by 5:00 p.m.

Once the modifications have been approved, we will enter the new budget amounts into each CAC’s Excel PFR Workbook and email the updated workbooks out to be used for monthly fiscal reports.

Please include Barb, Kim, and Kathy on all budget modification requests and questions.

REMINDER: Civil Rights Compliance Questionnaire and Training
are due by September 30!
Exciting News!!
We have three clinicians that attended the trauma certification training and are really excited to have counselors that are trauma certified in our community!
 
We also just hired a Crisis Counselor/Outreach Coordinator. She will be the point person for our Non-offending Caregiver Program that provides 6 free sessions to parents/guardians in order to help them help their child. We really want to help parents with the protective factors in order to lessen the likelihood of re-victimization.

Family Service Agency of DeKalb County
DeKALB – Family Service Agency is adding some new programming – and a larger space in which to fit it.

FSA, which serves the county with its Children Advocacy Center, Youth Mentoring (formerly known as Big Brothers, Big Sisters), Center for Counseling and Senior Services, is buying the former Associated Bank building at 1325 Sycamore Road, Executive Director Tynisha Clegg said.

The two-story building’s top floor is occupied by Walsh & Associates Ltd., Church of God Education Center, Rosenow-Franzene Development Inc. and the law office of Brian T. Rosenow.

Recently, the Advocacy Network for Children Foundation was formed and purchased the Harrison Street property which is designed to be a more welcoming and comforting environment for the child victim and their non-offending caretaker(s). 
If you would like more information, please call the agency’s office at 217-223-2272. You can also visit the agency’s Facebook page or website at www.advonet.org .
MEN WHO COOK is a favorite of all ages and raises critical financial support for the Will County Children's Advocacy Center -- providing hope, healing, and justice for abused children. With over 1,100 attendees last year, MEN WHO COOK is widely recognized as the largest and most popular, single-day fundraising event in Will County!
This fun and casual cook-off competition features over 50 local men – leaders in business, construction, accounting/finance, law enforcement, healthcare, manufacturing, real estate, government, education, and media – serving samples of their favorite dish for public judging. 

NEW this year...
  • a Professional/Commercial Chef division for those who work at restaurants or other eating establishments. 
  • Change of venue to the infield, NASCAR garage area of Chicagoland Speedway will provide:  Abundant parking
  • An exclusive infield experience
  • Photo opportunity with race car in Victory Lane
  • Outdoor seating with a view of the illuminated grandstand provides an early fall, alfresco dining atmosphere to relax and socialize
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The Guardian Center has two 5k events coming up! 

  • First, we have our annual Firecracker Challenge 5k in Grayville, Illinois during their Grayville Days Festival on September 1st. It is a very challenging 5k in a small community with BIG HILLS! More info here

  • Then, on October 13th, we have our annual Candy Corn Run in Carmi, Illinois during their Corn Days Festival! It is a flat course and fun, so records might be set! More info here
The Guardian Center would like to thank The Poshard Foundation for Abused Children for their donation of 6 pack and plays. Two were donated to the Wabash County Sheriff and the Mount Carmel Police Departments and the remaining 4 will be used for families at The Guardian Center 's 4 locations.

LOTS OF CHANGES AT THE AMY SCHULZ CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER

On July 30th, Kim Barbee-Tucker became the new Executive Director as Ladonna Richards prepares for retirement.

Ladonna has been a strong front for the Amy Center for 17 years and her last day will be on August 31, 2018. Kim asks that everyone feel free to send messages to Ladonna at her email address ladonna@hamiltoncom.net  or via text message at 618-237-3371. 

In addition, many changes are occurring as they prepare for the future.
Wendi Zobrist joins as an Advocate and Forensic Interviewer starting August 23rd. She will join Alexis Scott and Taylor Parker making the April House count at 3 Advocates and 4 Forensic Interviewers total. Our Educator, Whitney Verdeyen will start her year out as a full time Educator in seven counties.

We are looking forward to new developments in our future growth.