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Happy Retirement to not one, but two great leaders in the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois network!
Mark Parr, Executive Director of The Children’s Advocacy Center of North and Northwest Cook County is retiring after 23 years! Mark has been a constant, consistent champion for children throughout Illinois and a mentor for so many of us who have followed. I have appreciated Mark’s quiet but strong leadership and overall kindness to me and others, he will truly be missed. Wishing him many wonderful well deserved, years of retirement! Thank you Mark for your commitment to this work we all do, you are appreciated and will be missed.
Pat Dempsey, Executive Director of the DuPage County Children’s Advocacy Center, retires after 45 years in law enforcement and Children’s Advocacy Center work. Pat has been a strong supporter of the CAC movement through the years and was awarded received a 2014 Law Enforcement Award from the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) in 2014 (pictured below) this award was created to recognize law enforcement officers for conduct that promotes justice and to distinguish those individuals whose service to the public brings honor and respect to the entire criminal justice system. I’m sending my best wishes to Pat for a retirement full great golf, thank you for your kindness and for the appreciation you have shown to me and CACI.
Kim Mangiaracino
Executive Director
Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois
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CACI STAFF PRESENT AT NATIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Kenneth Matthews, CPA
CACI Chief Financial Officer
"Cara Vock, CACI Director of Programs & Member Services, and I were fortunate (depending on who you ask!) enough to present at the 2022 National Children's Alliance (NCA) Leadership Conference. Our presentation, titled Assessing and Responding to the Needs of Your Membership, was geared towards state chapters and focused on our needs assessment process (something we will be doing again soon, so keep an eye out for that!). It was so great to be a part of something so impactful and we are grateful we were able to attend and present in-person and, hopefully, help pass on some of our experiences and what we've learned."
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This fact sheet provides strategies for how to support youth who may be reminded of their trauma experiences while attending 4th of July festivities, including things to say. | Source: The National Child Traumatic Stress Network | | | |
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Fostering a Safe Environment for Children in Your Organization
| When parents, grandparents, and other caregivers entrust their children to your care, they do so with the expectation that you will only provide good quality services, and that you’ve taken the necessary steps to ensure their child’s physical safety and well-being. Of course, no organization can claim that its premises or programs are completely safe, and children and youth—especially younger children—are extremely vulnerable to the choices and judgment of people taking care of them. But there are best practices and strategies you can use to target safety factors and areas of risk, including the physical and virtual spaces your children use, which can strengthen the safety and security of your environments. | | | | |
Illinois State Fair Butter Cow Contest | Get inspired and create your butter cow, preferably using Prairie Farms butter. Points are given for style, design and creativity. Be sure to not eat your entry or bake a cake with it. Instead, freeze your cow to allow us to photograph you with it later if needed, and so it can be displayed at the Illinois State Fair. | | | |
Abuse Tied to Faith, and the Road to Healing | As victims of child sexual abuse by clergy continue to come forward and disclose, states have conducted investigations and created various ways for victims to seek justice. California, for example, has twice extended the statute of limitations on child sex abuse claims, prompting nine state bishops to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to declare the law unconstitutional. And just last week, the Supreme Court denied the bishops’ petition. | | | |
The Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois (CACI), a 501(c)(3) agency, is a statewide membership organization dedicated to helping communities, through local child advocacy centers (42 CACs in Illinois, serving all 102 counties), respond to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient – and put the needs of child victims first. | | |
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Please join us in sending congratulations to Unified Child Advocacy Center Executive Director, Tammy Learcher! On May 6th, Tammy
graduated with her master’s degree in Criminal Justice Policy from SIUE!
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Illinois has 42 Children’s Advocacy Centers that are supported by Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois through leadership, education, and collaboration. Did you know that IL is a part of and supported by a larger regional organizational response as well?
Midwest Regional CAC is committed to providing affordable, accessible, and cost-effective training methods for MDTs utilizing the latest technology and research to deliver timely, relevant, capacity-building programs. Midwest Regional is a great resource for training, capacity building, and provides tools for community responses to child abuse. Midwest Regional is one of four regional CACs that provide support to chapters, CAC’s, and MDT’s across the nation. The four regional CACs have developed and launched a new website that can be accessed by clicking here. These four organizations have combined their tools and developed an outstanding one stop shop website for all kinds of resources. Examples of resources are linkage agreements, in-person and virtual training options, resources organized by multi-disciplinary team disciplines, and more!
I’d highly recommend taking some time to look through what is available to you through this website. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you want to discuss any ideas or new resources that you would like to implement. I am here as a support for you as we continue to improve the response to child sexual abuse together.
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We had the pleasure of having Andy Zimney giving us a great start to the series with “Leading Through Change”, a CACI four-part leadership supervision series. This training explored the 4 R’s of Innovative Teams, the 4 D’s of Innovation, & the IdeaScape. Participants gained knowledge about the 4 key behaviors of change-oriented innovated teams, a process model for adding new ideas & how to leverage ideas through change.
Ali Alstott and Beverly Tucker presented Interviewing Beyond Sexual Abuse during a two-day training that aimed to enhance previously acquired forensic interviewing skills by addressing challenges related to reluctance and the variety of ways in which youth who have experienced or witnessed maltreatment present. The presenters covered topics of chronic, physical and psychological abuse, witness to violence and technology-facilitated crimes, trainers will provide participants with information, tools and resources for which to approach these cases.
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With the economy in crumbles, the stock market tanking, inflation roaring, and interest rates on a straight path up, I would highly recommend reading the single most influential personal finance book in my life: "The Simple Path to Wealth" by JL Collins. It's so easy to read and understand and is something I keep coming back to, year after year. Managing personal finances is simple. Notice how I didn't say easy. This book will help.
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Upcoming Due Dates:
CESF June Fiscal Expense PFR due:
Tues., July 5, 2022
VOCA June and Fiscal Expense PFR due:
Friday, July 15, 2022
VOCA FY22 Closeout Fiscal Expense PFR and Property Inventory Report due:
Friday, July 15, 2022
The IRS will be increasing the 2022 mileage rate to .625 effective July 1st. The news release is here for your information.
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VOCA Site Visit Updates
We have had to reschedule a number of FY22 VOCA Site Visits. I will be reaching out to make sure the new dates work for you. Some will be in the month of July.
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The VOCA report testing
is in its final stages!
NEW COLLABORATE FIELD?
When conducting a Prosecution Progress Service. You can now choose Plea as an outcome of a prosecution charge.
Once "Plea" is chosen a new field pops up where you can choose the new "Outcome charge"
WHAT IS IT TRACKING?
The Outcome Charge field tracks the final disposition of the Prosecution relative to the initial charges. This design will allow your center to track:
- How often charges are pled down to lesser charges
- Whether sexual assault crimes are pleaded down to non-sexual assault crimes to avoid state sexual assault registries
- If there is a pattern by particular prosecutors to plead cases.
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Call the 24-hour Child Abuse Hotline at 800-25-ABUSE
(800-252-2873) if you suspect that a child has been harmed or is at risk of being harmed by abuse or neglect. If you believe a child is in immediate danger of harm, call 911 first.
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