CAC Achieves National Certification continued...

“This accreditation recognizes a new era of services for child abuse victims here in Nassau County,” Ms. Scott said, noting: “These children now have a completely friendly and supportive environment in which to tell their stories, receive services and to begin the process of recovery from their trauma with the assistance of the Coalition and the members of the Nassau County Multidisciplinary Team.” CCAN facilitates the operations of the CAC (located adjacent to its Garden City offices) and the multidisciplinary team with members from the Nassau Police Department, Department of Social Services, Department of Health, Department of Mental Health, Nassau University Medical Center, District Attorney’s Office and County Attorney’s office.

The National Children’s Alliance sets standards for CAC’s throughout the United States, including the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Island and Canada, and requires core components including separate, child-friendly facilities for interviewing and providing services to child victims and their non-offending family members; coordinated, multidisciplinary investigations of reports of abuse; and regular interdisciplinary case review.

Research shows that when interactions with children are age-appropriate and provided in a supportive manner, children are more likely to provide accurate and truthful information to investigators, clinicians and other professionals, which is clearly in the he best interest of everyone involved.

Recently, CCAN Director of Advocacy Services, Maureen O’Connor, who oversees the CAC operations, was awarded by the NCA with the Horowitz-Barker Professional Leadership Award for perseverance and dedication to the CAC.