Mental Health & Advocacy Coordinator

The Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grant will allow the Children’s Advocacy Center of Delaware (CAC) to hire a Mental Health & Advocacy Coordinator, a critical role that will enhance Delaware’s response to children experiencing sexual violence, physical violence, witness to violence, and neglect. The Mental Health & Advocacy Coordinator will be a licensed mental health professional with training and expertise in trauma and child abuse. The Mental Health & Advocacy Coordinator will provide on-site, evidenced-based therapeutic treatment such as child and family traumatic stress intervention for a caseload of clients. The position will provide oversight of the CAC’s family advocacy, crisis intervention, and referral services. This professional will also act as a liaison between the CAC and outside mental health providers with whom the CAC refers children for treatment.

The CAC is a private, nonprofit organization that was established in 1996. The CAC is a comprehensive, child-focused program based in a safe and child-friendly center that facilitates law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, behavioral health, social services, and medical communities working together when intervening in child abuse cases. The main goal of the CAC is to make sure children are not further traumatized or victimized by the systems designed to protect them. The CAC accomplishes this by interviewing children with specially trained and experienced forensic interviewers in a manner that is legally sound, follows nationally accepted best practices, and minimizes duplicative and unnecessary interviews. The CAC also has family resource advocates and case managers to assist families. The CAC provides statewide coverage with a center located in each of Delaware’s three counties.

The intended beneficiaries of this project will be children who have been physically abused, sexually abused, neglected, or witness to violence who have visited the CAC for services. The project will serve the entire state population of children seeking services at the CAC. The project will improve the mental health assessment and treatment of child abuse victims, which will allow the CAC to further its mission of reducing the devastating long-term effects that child abuse has on children, their families and society through immediate, coordinated, child focused services, education, and advocacy. This project will help assess children more quickly and respond more thoroughly to their mental health needs.