Foothills Child Advocacy Center

Foothills Child Advocacy Center is a non-profit, accredited agency designed to provide a coordinated system of effective response and intervention to children who have been victimized.

Our goals are to minimize trauma, promote healing, ensure child safety, and hold perpetrators accountable.

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What Happens at Foothills?

When a report of child physical abuse, sexual abuse or sexual assault is reported to Law Enforcement or the Department of Social Services, a forensic interview with the child is scheduled at Foothills CAC. The child is interviewed at Foothills by a professional who is specially trained in child forensic interviewing. The non-offending caretakers receive crisis intervention and referrals for ongoing services that support the child or family.

This process is based on a national Child Advocacy Center model that seeks to reduce trauma to a child caused by multiple, duplicative interviews. The national CAC model holds more offenders accountable through improved investigation and prosecution, and the multidisciplinary team approach allows for more children and their non-offending caretakers to receive services.

If a child discloses abuse to you, or if you suspect or have reason to believe a child is being abused or victimized, contact the police or social services. The number for the Child Abuse Hotline is 800-552-7096. Local police can be reached by dialing 911.

All children are entitled to be safe, healthy, nurtured, and valued.

Goals of Foothills:

To provide a child-friendly, safe and neutral location in which law enforcement and Child Protective Services may conduct and observe child interviews;
To reduce trauma to the child victim by bringing all disciplines together and sharing information more efficiently to minimize duplication;
To enhance communication and collaboration among all agencies involved;
To provide the child and non-offending family members referrals to supportive services;
To hold more perpetrators accountable by conducting non-leading, legally sound forensic interviews which help result in successful prosecutions of physical and sexual abuse cases;
To advocate for best practices in child abuse investigations and treatment by coordinating trainings for the multidisciplinary team; and
To educate our community about child abuse.

Why Does Our Community Need a Child Advocacy Center?

Charlottesville and Albemarle County are not immune from family violence and child abuse. Foothills Child Advocacy Center is designed to meet the unique needs of our community. Child abuse is a multifaceted issue, and no single agency or individual has the necessary knowledge, skills or resources to serve all the needs of victimized children and their families. Foothills brings together wisdom and knowledge from professionals of different disciplines, which results in a better understanding of case issues and an effective child-focused response. Foothills Child Advocacy Center works to reduce further trauma by the intervention systems designed to protect children and to improve prosecution, holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.

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