CHILD ABUSE IN DELAWARE AND THE CACD

• 5,566 children reported as abused or neglected and were referred for investigation in Delaware in 2000.

• 1,813 children were substantiated as abused or neglected in Delaware in 2000.

• The Children’s Advocacy Center of Delaware conducted 638 interviews in 2000 and 840 interviews in 2001. 

• In 2005, the Children's Advocacy Center of Delaware conducted 1,078 interviews.

HISTORY OF THE CACD

1980's

• Child abuse rose to the forefront in America
• There was a mass increase in reported child abuse and neglect cases to local child protection services
• Children were forced to re-tell and thus re-live their stories time and time again.
• Due to separate agencies and fragmented services, there was a re-victimization of these abused children from the very system that was attempting to help.

1985

• The National Children's Advocacy Center is founded in Huntsville, Alabama.
• This center met the needs of abused children in a warm, non-threatening environment.
• The focus is on the child victim and his or her family.
• The Center has a Multidisciplinary Team working together to respond to child abuse in a coordinated manner.
• The Children's Center has become a model for the country and the world.

1994

• A community task force was formed to create better ways to serve abused children and their families in Delaware.
• This task force spend two years in fact-finding and review.

1996

• A recommendation by the task force provided for Delaware to establish a children's advocacy center where expert teams would give abused children coordinated services in a child-friendly setting.

• First Delaware Children's Advocacy Center began operating in New Castle County. 

• Second Delaware CAC opened in Dover.

• Third Delaware CAC opened in Georgetown.  There is now a Center in each county in the state, to provide equal access to all children in Delaware.

Today

• There are more than 400 Children's Centers across the nation based on the National Children's Advocacy Center