Healing Happens Here

Reducing Trauma
We provide a safe, neutral, child-friendly place for child forensic interviews, medical exams, and family support. Before Foothills was founded in 2006, children would be interviewed as many as 15 times at all the different agencies who deal with child abuse cases. Our child-friendly, private environment offers a safe place for the forensic interview. That means that the majority of children only need to be interviewed one time, significantly reducing any re-traumatization.

Ensuring Safety
We coordinate with Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) to ensure that all children in Albemarle, Buckingham, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson and Orange receive as much help and support as possible. Our staff conduct risk and need assessments with the non-offending caregivers, provide referrals, and help families to provide safe environments for child victims. In addition to supporting the family throughout the investigation and treatment.

Promoting Healing
The earlier that an abused child receives help, greater the likelihood that the child will grow up to be a healthy, confident, productive adult. The child advocacy model is designed to give an abused child the best chance to heal and recover. As part of that model, Foothills offers on-site medical evaluations which are an important part of promoting healing and helps to reassure victims and parents about the child’s physical well-being. 

Keeping Kids Safe
We work to educate caregivers and organizations about child abuse and its prevention and provide training for local professionals who work with abused children. ​

Our Vision
All children are entitled to be safe, healthy, nurtured and valued. Foothills Child Advocacy Center envisions a unified and just community whose members are knowledgeable about and invested in assuring that all child victims receive the benefit of a range of services available in the community. ​

Our Mission
Foothills Child Advocacy Center provides a coordinated system of effective response and intervention to children who have been victimized. Our goals are to minimize trauma, promote healing, and ensure child safety.

​​The Child Advocacy Center Model 
We use the evidence-based Child Advocacy Center Model that is nationally recognized to provide the best possible trauma-informed services to children who have allegedly been sexually or physically abused.

​Read more about the model on the National Children's Alliance website. ​

Established in 2006
The Charlottesville/Albemarle Commission on Children and Families created a workgroup in 2002 that was charged with identifying ways to reduce the impact of abuse/neglect on children, and they determined that the community needed a child advocacy center. In 2006, a Board of Directors was formed, and Foothills Child Advocacy Center was incorporated.  On April 12, 2006, we conducted the first forensic interview of a child using the Multidisciplinary Team approach.  In June 2007, we received the 501(C)(3) nonprofit status.  

Our Accreditation
Since 2011, we have been a fully accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance.  By meeting national accreditation standards, we are recognized as having achieved a level of multidisciplinary collaboration and coordinated service delivery that significantly improves the experience and well-being of children who are subject to child abuse intervention. We are required to go through an intensive re-accreditation process every five years to ensure that it continues to meet the standards. We successfully received a 5-year reaccreditation in 2023.

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