CACI ChildFirst Fall 2019 Training
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CACI held the 22nd session of ChildFirst Illinois at the
President Abraham Lincoln Springfield
September 30 - October 4th.
This nationally recognized accreditation approved protocol taught participants how conduct forensic interviews in a neutral, fact-finding manner. This year's class was comprised of 14 law enforcement, 11 DCFS, and 14 CAC employees.
ChildFirst is an intensive, rigorous and interactive five-day course in which students learn the necessary skills to conduct a forensic interview of an alleged child abuse victim. ChildFirst is designed for investigative teams of law enforcement officers, social workers, prosecutors, and forensic interviewers.
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Mike Burns, CACI MDT Coordinator teaches ChildFirst participants about gathering details in a forensic interview, and how to corroborate a child's statement after the forensic interview.
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Betti Mucha, Perry Jackson Executive Director explains to participants how the use of anatomically correct dolls can help clarify a child's statement, and the proper technique to use this tool.
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Halloween Health & Safety Tips
âHere are some tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to help ensure your children have a healthy and safe Halloween. Look for "flame resistant" on the costume labels. Wigs and accessories should also clearly indicate this. Consider...
Read more
www.healthychildren.org
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Building Resiliency in CACs & MDTs
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In October, CACI had the privilege of providing the great teams of Sangamon CAC and Proviso CAC (pictured below) with Building Resiliency training.
The goal of this training is to discuss the impact of working in this field, identify the five core elements of resiliency, and explore how they can be implemented in the CAC and on the MDT through the organizational resiliency model using policies/practices, communication techniques, and competency-based training.
If you are interested in your team receiving this 4 hour training, please
contact me.
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CACI is happy to announce that the MDT Coordinator Training registration is now OPEN! The day and a half training is on December 4th and 5th at Hyatt Place in Champaign. The cost is only $30 and includes hotel stay and lunch on both days. Breakfast is provided for those staying at the hotel.
Whether you are a brand new facilitator or are a seasoned veteran, this training will benefit all that attend. The full agenda and other announcements will be sent to all of those registered for the training. If you haven't already please register for this training below!
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Wed, Dec 4, 2019 8:30 AM CST
3rd Annual MDT Coordinator Training
Hyatt Place Champaign/Urbana,
Champaign
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So glad fall has finally arrived and with that exciting changes are coming!
The Collaborate system is gearing up nicely. I have reached out to many of you, and will continue to reach out to each center and touch base with updates. As of now, we are on track to take the Collaborate system live as soon as January.
I believe each center has been contacted by Network Ninja regarding data migration. If you have not been contacted, you will be soon. Data will be migrated from NCATrak users first, then by expiration date of current CAC systems, followed by âforeverâ systems. (
Forever systems are those that do not have an expiration date).
DCFS reports: I know some CACs are able to send their DCFS reports monthly, which is greatly appreciated. For those who send quarterly I would like to have these by the 10th of the month following the end of a quarter.
Happy Halloween
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To understand what a Childrenâs Advocacy Center (CAC) is, you must understand what children face without one. Without a CAC, the child may end up having to tell the worst story of his or her life over and over again, to doctors, cops, lawyers, therapists, investigators, judges, and others. They may have to talk about that traumatic experience in a police station where they think they might be in trouble, or may be asked the wrong questions by a well-meaning teacher or other adult that could hurt the case against the abuser.
When police or child protective services believe a child is being abused, the child is brought to the CACâa safe, child-focused environmentâby a caregiver or other âsafeâ adult. At the CAC, the child tells their story once to a trained interviewer who knows the right questions to ask in a way that does not not retraumatize the child. Then, a team that includes medical professionals, law enforcement, mental health, prosecution, child protective services, victim advocacy, and other professionals make decisions together about how to help the child based on the interview. CACs offer therapy and medical exams, plus courtroom preparation, victim advocacy, case management, and other services. This is called the multidisciplinary team (MDT) response and is a core part of the work of CACs.
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One in Ten Podcast
Engaging the brightest minds working to solve one of the world's toughest challenges-child abuse. Join in for one-on-one conversations with leading experts on science, law, medicine, morality, and messaging.
Read more
www.buzzsprout.com
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At the most recent CACI board meeting, the importance of bringing on additional board members was discussed. If you are interested or there is someone that you feel would be interested in serving on our statewide CACI board, please download the
CACI Board Member Recommendation Form
and return to
Kim Mangiaracino
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2020 Session Registration Closes October 31, 2019
Midwest Regional CAC peer review is available to medical providers and forensic interviewers. Over 1,000 CAC and MDT professionals from over 260 sites currently participate in the program!..
Read more
www.mrcac.org
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Keep up to date with CACI on social media
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On September 10th, Denise Johnson was appointed as Sangamon County CAC Executive Director!
Denise has her masterâs degree in Educational Psychology and Guidance and Counseling from Eastern Illinois University. Throughout her career Denise has worked as a therapist in the mental health field. Denise came to the SCCAC as an Advocate in 2014 and went on to become a trained Forensic Interviewer in 2015. She then served as the full time Forensic Interviewer at the SCCAC and later the Multidisciplinary Team Coordinator before being named the Executive Director.
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Family Service Agency has moved to a new location!!! 1325 Sycamore Rd. in DeKalb is our new address. (pictures below)
Our open house was on October 21st and we really love our new space!
The CAC successfully passed Accreditation after our site visit on September 18th.
We are beginning our âAdopt a Familyâ for the Holidays.
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The Champaign County Childrenâs Advocacy Center is please to welcome our newest team member, Jenna Gilchrist, Family Advocate.
Jenna recently relocated to central Illinois from the Atlanta, Georgia area. She has 7 yearsâ experience working with children and families at the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice where she was a Juvenile Program Manager and Juvenile Probation Specialist. Jenna has passion for working with children and families. She brings a wealth of knowledge regarding the criminal justice system in addition to connecting children and families to community resources.
Welcome aboard Jenna!
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ChicagoCAC is proud to have recently been awarded the federal Integrated Services for Minors Victims of Human Trafficking Grant.
This is a federal grant administered by the
Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) within the Department of Justice. The three-year, $350,000 grant will support two new positions, including a CSEC Specialist and a Therapist to work specifically with this population. It will allow ChicagoCAC to reach more children and enhance our collaborations with other nonprofits serving victims of child sex trafficking and exploitation.
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THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS THAT YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR CACI
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The Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois stands for the proposition that communities working together on behalf of child victims of abuse can make all the difference in terms of response and intervention â and in the lives of the child victims themselves.
Your support matters. There are so many ways you can give.
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