“It is devastating when your child is sexually abused. You feel like your whole world is crashing down around you. The day we walked into the Child Advocacy Center was the first step in our healing journey. I am so grateful for the team from the Child Advocacy Center, Department of Children’s Services, law enforcement, and the District Attorney’s Office. They helped us get through the forensic interview, the forensic medical exam, my husband’s arrest, my daughter’s nightmares, finding a great therapist, and the criminal court case. Everything they did helped us heal and get our lives back on track.” –Mother of a child sexual abuse victim

No parent expects child sexual abuse to happen to their child. Unfortunately, it happens to children every day in Rutherford and Cannon Counties, and to 1 out of 10 children in our nation.

The Child Advocacy Center works as a multidisciplinary team with Department of Children’s Services, law enforcement, and the District Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute child abuse and child sexual abuse cases, help children heal from the trauma, and help families rebuild their shattered lives.

The Center’s work is very specialized. There are only six forensic interviewers and family advocates in Rutherford and Cannon Counties who have received extensive, specialized training to interview child victims and assist families. The Child Advocacy Center staff triages new emergency cases every morning, prioritizes cases, and responds with the Child Protective Investigative Team to child victims who are in imminent danger. Forensic interviews are provided in a safe, child friendly location where children suspected of being victims are interviewed in connection with the crime.

The Department of Children’s Services refers every serious child abuse case they receive to the Child Advocacy Center, including referrals on children exposed to their parents’ drug use. The Center provides parents with addiction recovery services, educates children about addiction, and helps children pick up the pieces if their parents relapse and disappoint them. For 19 years, the Drug Endangered Children Program has helped parents stop using drugs and helped their children heal from the trauma. When we are successful, children break the generational cycle of addiction in their family.

As parents and grandparents, we do everything we can to keep our kids safe. We make our children wear seat belts. We walk them across busy streets. We store toxic cleaners out of their reach. We ask our teenagers where they are going and who they will be with. Protecting children from child sexual abuse is also an adult responsibility. Since 2012, the Child Advocacy Center has utilized the nationwide Darkness to Light child sexual abuse prevention curriculum to educate 15,947 Rutherford and Cannon County adults how to protect children from child sexual abuse.

The Child Advocacy Center has far outgrown its current space and does not have enough space to serve the number of families who need help. The staff of 14, along with student interns, works in a facility that is approximately 1,600 square feet. The CAC has two forensic interviewers, but only one interview room. Currently, maintaining confidentiality is challenging because the CAC does not have a private waiting room for families. Frequently, a family must waitin the car when another family is receiving services. The center is in critical need for a new space and needs your donation to support our mission to provide safety, justice, and healing for every victim of child abuse.

Capital Campaign

Our Children, Our Watch

Team Members