Dear Friends,

Welcome Spring, it's been an eventful fall and winter at CACI, but I'm looking forward to warmer weather, blooming flowers, and bright skies! I'd like to send a big thank you to the CACI staff, all the participants, and wonderful speakers from this year's Champions of Children conference. It was our largest and best yet. A large conference is quite a task, but so worth it when you see so many people all in one place who are there to learn about how to serve kids and families better. Watching the CACI staff plan, execute and participate in this event is something to see. I am so grateful for all of these people. Looking forward to some big (good) changes coming soon here at the chapter, stayed tuned. For now, enjoy this month's newsletter and check out what's been going on in our state.

Sharing the sad news that we have lost our beloved CACI Board President Joan Pernecke. 

Joan has been instrumental in the growth and development of CACI these past several years and a fixture in our world of child abuse investigations for many years. Joan served as a trainer, mentor, and friend to many in our state. She was a fierce protector and a force to be reckoned with. Joan was a dear friend to me and my biggest cheerleader in the role of Executive Director, she always had my back but also never held back her opinion. I will miss her charm, her quick wit and her overall presence. I am grateful to have known her ~ Kim 💙

Read Joan's obituary here.

The 2023 Legislative Day will be held at our State Capitol on Wednesday, April 19th and we look forward to seeing CAC Directors, staff, board members and MDTs there!  

We are encouraging attendees to take this opportunity to set up meetings, and visit their representatives and discuss the importance of CACs in the state of Illinois. CACI will provide attendees with a list of talking points.

The CACI staff will have a table set up in the East Hall beginning at 10:00 am. There is a scheduled press conference in the Blue Room at 12:30 pm and immediately following, we invite everyone back to the CACI office for light refreshments.  

We hope to see you there!

Cara Vock

Director of Programs and Member Services

Hello, 2023 is in full swing, and CAC’s may be beginning to shift their focus to the New Accreditation Standards. This month, I would like to highlight some resources to assist CAC’s with meeting those requirements. New to the 2023 Standards, Component 2E requires CAC staff to participate in DEI training, a minimum of 8 hours, every 2 years. CACI is proud in offer, in part by funding from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Please save the following dates:

• Racial Trauma, April 20 10-12 meets component 2E
• Racial Trauma Racial Trauma Follow Up, May 2, 2-3:30 meets component 2E
• DEI for Leaders, May 16, 10-12 meets component 2E
• DEI for Leaders Follow Up June 8, 10-11:30 meets component 2E
• 2 Part Wellness Series, Pt 1 June 20th 1-3 and Part 2 June 22 1-3 meets component 9H

Not new to the 2023, but very importantly, CACs must demonstrate that their mental health providers must have completed 40 hours of training and consult hours in evidence supported mental health treatment- Standard 6A. CACI is excited to offer Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Training and Consultation Calls. Free of charge to therapists working with in conjunction with an Illinois Children’s Advocacy Center. This training is typically $1,500, and through National Children’s Alliance Statewide Project Funds, all members can provide this training free to its providers.

• Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, April 17-19, 21, 10:00-2:30

TF-CBT All Victim Advocates must have 24 hours of instruction in 12 specific topics. 3 of these topic areas are new, meaning all advocates including seasoned advocates must have updated training to meet Standard 4A- cultural responsiveness and addressing implicit bias in service delivery, caregiver resilience, and domestic violence. Advocates who have less than 5 years’ experience should take advantage of the Regional CACs training, The Advocate’s Role in the MDT Response to Child Abuse.

If you have any questions as you make your way through these new standards, please don’t hesitate to contact me to see how other centers are applying these new updated best practice standards both in IL and across the US.

Sincerely, Cara

Mike Burns

Statewide MDT Coordinator

The next virtual MDT Coordinator Round Table will be on April 12th from 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM. This is an opportunity for MDT Coordinators to network, assist one another with overcoming challenges, share successes and share ideas. Attendees are encouraged to come with a question or concern that they would like feedback on from their peers and more information from other Coordinators across the state.

Ya'Shika Reed

Training and Prevention Specialist

CACI hosted its first session of Motivational Interview with Dr. Richard Rutschman. YOU KNOW IT'LL BE A GREAT TRAINING WHEN IT STARTS OFF WITH A MAGIC TRICK:) Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a conversation approach to help individuals change behaviors and increase intrinsic motivation to reach their goals. It seeks to help people decide to make behavior changes or improve their commitment to change. It can focus on almost any aspect of life where choice is needed, for example deciding to address anger issues, trauma, adverse childhood experiences, make education or career decisions, attend parenting classes or sessions, complying with court orders, changing negative behaviors (bullying, fighting, abusing), making life style changes (health, substance use) based on heart set/mindset. The Beginning workshop begun with an introduction and refresher for those who may have had some background in MI while providing those new to this approach with the basics: The spirit (mindset/heartset), the core skills and some strategies to support decision-making and behavior change, including how to give information. The four tasks or processes of the conversations as well as strategies to evoke change talk and commitment language will be covered. Thank you to everyone that attended the first session, please get registered for the upcoming coaching session. We look forward to seeing you all there. Also, Thank you to Dr. Richard Rutschman.

We got this really great compliment about the Champions of Children's Conference "I just wanted to say thank you for hosting such an informative and connecting event. It's really a wonderful thing when people get together and not only learn new things, but collaborate, network, get pumped up to do better, and even share tears! That last day was so many emotions! I still tear up talking about it, and I laugh thinking about the final speaker's humor! I needed that, truly. 🙂"

Kathy L Murphy

VOCA Fiscal Grant Monitor

Upcoming Due Dates

• VOCA March Fiscal Expense PFR due Monday, April 10, 2023

CESF Grant Final Numbers:

The CESF grant award was $2,019,080.00. We spent out $$1,956,079.44, leaving $63,000.56 unspent. Thanks for all your extra work on this grant!

Michael Morgan

VOCA Program Grant Monitor

Quarter 3 VOCA Reports (Data, Progress and Time Certifications Forms) are due Monday, April 10th. If you need more time, let us know. If you are fully using Collaborate, for your Data Reports you only need to run the VOCA "One Click" Report then download and email it with your other reports.

Hanane Bousfoul

Data and Communications Specialist

Are you aware that Collaborate provides a complimentary 30-minute one-on-one session every month through its Training and Webinars program? This session is free and tailored to offer personalized support and advice to help you optimize your experience with Collaborate. During this half-hour, your center can make specific report requests or receive prompt responses to any inquiries you may have directly from Collaborate. You can book this session by navigating to Help >>> Training Schedule >>> Register for Training or Help Desk Session >>> Help Desk One on One.