The child advocacy center model is a best practice.

Foothills Child Advocacy Center is based on an evidence-based 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. 

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.

​Our Diversity Statement

​Foothills Child Advocacy Center recognizes, honors, and promotes diversity in race, color, ethnicity, national origin, language, cultural background, religion, creed, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, cognitive ability, educational level, disability, military service, socioeconomic status, neighborhood (including proximity to and awareness of services), and history of abuse. We seek to reflect this diversity and ensure equal opportunity and inclusion in all aspects of our work, including the composition of our board, committees, staff, and volunteers. Further, we seek to be a culturally competent organization, governed by an attitude of cultural humility, so that the children and families we serve do not have to struggle through barriers such as language and culturally biased values or expectations to get the services and support they need.

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 was incorporated.  On April 12, 2006, Foothills CAC conducted their first forensic interview of a child using the multi-disciplinary team approach.  In June 2007, Foothills received its 501(C)(3) nonprofit status.  

Our Accreditation

Since 2011, Foothills has been a fully accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance.  By meeting national accreditation standards, Foothills  is 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. Foothills is required to go through an intensive re-accreditation process every five years to ensure that it continues to meet the standards.