In September of 2022, Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) released a Roundup that focused on how to manage change and transition on the multidisciplinary team (MDT). As so many Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) and MDTs continue to experience elevated levels of turnover, this topic remains relevant for CACs and our partner agencies nationwide. In fact, turnover and changes within the team is one of the main reasons many CACs reach out to us for support. Although we may not be able to control turnover on our teams or within our partner organizations, there are key factors to consider when navigating change and understanding our responses to it. Read More >>

Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) is committed to helping Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) staff and multidisciplinary team (MDT) members find ways to strengthen their resiliency and focus on their vision and goals. However, as we all know, it is sometimes hard to stay focused on just one goal or task at a time. This Roundup issue looks at how multitasking may impact us in the field and provides some tips for creating space to focus and reduce the sense of overwhelm that can lead to burnout. Read More >>

An array of resources is available to support children’s advocacy centers (CACs) efforts to include military partners in the multidisciplinary team response and ensure that services are coordinated with military systems. Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) supports MDTs and CACs across the western region through training and technical support and encourages CACs and MDTs to consider their military partners when developing services in their communities. Read More >>

Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) is committed to strengthening multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and children’s advocacy centers (CACs) in our region and across the country with our collaborative partners. As part of our work, we are helping CACs in our region understand some of the recent updates to the National Children’s Alliance’s (NCA’s) accreditation standards that went into effect in January of 2023. There are several updates and additions across the ten standards. However, it is important to note that the updated standards reflect an increased focus on the role of the MDT facilitator and the MDT overall. One of the newest additions to the standards relates to the onboarding of new MDT members. Essential Component J under Standard 1 states: “The CAC/MDT provides formal orientation for new MDT members regarding CAC/MDT process, policies and procedures, and code of conduct” (NCA, 2023). Read More >>

As we all know, the world shifted in 2020, and many of us went from being in the office full-time to working remotely and participating in virtual meetings and trainings. In fact, in 2021, Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) dedicated a Roundup to understanding how to best approach virtual meetings. However, now, many of us are finding ourselves settling somewhere between being fully virtual and fully in-person. For many of us, multidisciplinary team (MDT), case review, and staff meetings have become hybrid meetings. Hybrid meetings involve some attendees participating in-person and others remotely through a web-based platform such as Zoom.  Read More >>

Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) is committed to strengthening multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and children’s advocacy centers (CACs) in our region and through our work with our collaborative partners across the country. We provide technical assistance, customized training, and resources to help teams effectively respond to child abuse in their communities. We also work with our regional partners to host quarterly peer forums for MDT facilitators to learn and connect with their peers. Information about these and other learning opportunities is provided at the end of this article. In our most recent peer forum, we covered the topic of boundary spanning. Understanding boundary spanning is a key step to strengthening MDTs and the collaborative approach to child abuse investigations. Read More >>

The Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center has been committed to helping strengthen multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and children’s advocacy centers (CACs) throughout the thirteen states in our region. Through our work with individual CACs as well as state chapters, we have provided technical assistance, customized trainings and resources to help teams more effectively respond to child abuse in their communities. One of the keys to strengthening MDTs is to understand how important the concept of “purpose” is to both individuals and teams as a whole. Read More >>

Before jumping into this article, take a moment to think of the first word or feeling that arises when you read the word change. What is your initial response? Does it feel expansive or restrictive? Perhaps somewhere in between? We started with this exact question at the MDT Facilitator Peer Forum in June, a virtual space for multidisciplinary team (MDT) facilitators hosted by the four regional children’s advocacy centers (RCACs). The responses were wide-ranging: fear, opportunity, exhaustion, innovation, and resistance are just a sampling of what we heard during the forum. Read More >>

In 2018, Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center began strategic planning related to implementation of telemental health (TMH) services at CACs. With so many rural and frontier CACs in our region, we recognized that developing TMH services would be critical to increasing access to mental health services for children and families being served by Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs). Planning for the Telemental Health Resource Center (TMHRC), a central place to find information and research related to TMH delivery, began prior to COVID-19. WRCAC’s TMHRC was launched in 2019 to provide CACs with research and resources to support the implementation of TMH services. Since then, we have seen many CACs initiate TMH services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when information related to the implementation of TMH expanded exponentially. Almost 5 years later, we have all learned a great deal about TMH, its benefit for CACs, and the resources CACs might need to launch these services. In this Roundup we’re highlighting some of the specific CAC benefits to utilizing TMH and sharing more about the updated TMHRC. Read More >>

This issue of the Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) Roundup highlights recently published articles on telemental health (TMH) of interest to child advocacy centers (CACs). It is the second part of our research series (see part one here). While the previous Roundup focused on the general effectiveness of TMH, this Roundup highlights research related to the application of TMH to certain populations or interventions.  We encourage you to read the articles in full and share them with your CAC staff and partners. Read More >>

The rapid implementation of telemental health (TMH) services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic produced opportunities and challenges for maintaining mental health services while in-person sessions were suspended. While TMH services were not new, especially for children’s advocacy centers (CACs) and clinicians serving rural and frontier clients, they were often looked at as a less desirable alternative to in-person sessions. This misperception is changing, and TMH delivery is growing as a respected modality in its own right. Read More >>

Children’s advocacy centers (CACs) work hard to provide pathways to healing for children and families. However, providing mental health services onsite or through linkage agreements has become increasingly difficult as referrals outpace availability of therapists. Identifying local trauma-trained professionals, even in large urban areas with a rich pool of licensed therapists, can prove difficult. The challenge is more daunting in rural and frontier communities where far fewer licensed mental health professionals live¹. To the extent that qualified trauma-focused treatment providers exist in rural areas, they are often found in limited numbers, and families may experience long waits before therapy can be initiated. This shortage often means relying on generalist mental health professionals who do not specialize in evidence-based trauma treatment.  Read More >>

The Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) supports children’s advocacy centers (CACs), multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and state chapters that serve a decidedly rural and frontier population. The thirteen states that make up the western region represent nearly half of U.S. land, but less than one-quarter of U.S. residents. The result is a population density that is half the national average – 42.4 persons per square mile in the west versus 89.5 nationally. While the western region features urban centers such as Los Angeles, Honolulu and Seattle with population densities of over 5,000 residents per square mile, most of the states in the west fall well below the national average and comprise vast, sparsely populated areas. Read More >>

Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) works throughout the west to provide training and technical assistance which strengthens a trauma-informed, coordinated community response and promotes the National Standards of Accreditation for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs). In 2023, the National Children’s Alliance’s (NCA’s) revised accreditation standards went into effect. The standards, which were first put into place over twenty years ago and have been updated approximately every five years, help guide the work of CACs nationwide. The ten standards help ensure that children who experience abuse have high-quality, evidence-based services available to them when they enter the doors of the over 750 accredited CACs in the country to begin the healing process. Read Issue 26 (Standards 1-5) >

Before we dive into the second half of the standards, we wanted to share some information from the National Children’s Alliance based on the first group of CACs to apply for accreditation or reaccreditation under the new standards. During the first part of the year, nearly 73% of the CACs that applied for accreditation/reaccreditation were successful and 27% of the CACs that applied for accreditation/reaccreditation went into the pending status. Although the 27% number may seem high, the first part of the year did not see that many CACs go through the process. For those that went into pending status, the standard that proved to be the most challenging was the MDT standard with issues cited regarding protocols and how teams give feedback and how that feedback is formally reviewed. The second most common reason CACs went into pending status was the victim advocacy standard. Most cited here were issues with victim advocates not having the full range of training required and the ongoing training requirement. Read Issue 27 (Standards 6-10) >>

The movement of in-person activities to a virtual environment is one of many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the daily activities of children’s advocacy centers (CACs). From hosting online meetings to offering telehealth services, video conferencing platforms allow us to convene easily with staff, multi-disciplinary team (MDT) colleagues, and clients across distances and from our homes and private offices. However, it can be challenging to translate in-person activities to a virtual environment and keep participants engaged. As a fully remote team, WRCAC has compiled lessons over the past year on hosting effective and engaging virtual meetings and trainings that we share here to assist you in successfully navigating and leveraging virtual space to best serve your CAC. Read More >>

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the WRCAC Roundup! The WRCAC Roundup is a new monthly communication featuring the latest news from the Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC). Throughout each issue, we will highlight what we are learning and doing as it relates to child abuse intervention, professional development, and justice and healing for kids, and share relevant research, resources, and links to events from our team and our partners across the country. Each month, the WRCAC Roundup will be structured around one key topic or aspect of our work that is central to building strong multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) and children’s advocacy centers (CACs). This month’s WRCAC Roundup is an introduction to who we are and how we operate within the broader CAC movement. Read More >>

The Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) has historically provided training and technical assistance (TTA) to multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) that provide services to American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth and families. As we shared with you in Issue 8 of the Roundup, over 80 percent of federally recognized Tribes are located in the western region. The advent of the Native Child Advocacy Resource Center (NCARC), with their expertise and knowledge in working with Tribal communities, has strengthened the capacity to support the development of MDTs and CACs that embrace the value of holistic Tribal practices. WRCAC is proud to have NCARC as one of our Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA) partners and we would like to provide an opportunity for you to hear and learn from their history, experience, and knowledge. For this issue of our Roundup, we have asked Jennifer Calder, NCARC Product Development Manager, to share some of what their team feels is important for those working with Tribal communities. This interview has been edited slightly for length and clarity. Read More >>

The Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center provides training and technical assistance to State Chapters, Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs), and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) to build their capacity to provide an effective, trauma-informed response to child abuse. A key element of this capacity building is developing cultural responsiveness. The Diversity, Equity, and Access standard in the 2023 National Standards of Accreditation for Children’s Advocacy Centers emphasizes that cultural responsiveness is “as central to operations as developmentally appropriate, child-focused, and trauma-informed practice.” To increase cultural responsiveness, the standard requires CACs to develop policies, procedures, and practices to reduce disparities in service access and outcomes, and to ensure values of equity and inclusion are evident in practice. Read More >>

Western Regional Children’s Advocacy Center (WRCAC) is committed to strengthening the response of Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) and State Chapters throughout the western region of the United States. CACs and Chapters in our region and across the country are working every day to break down barriers to services for children and families and implement a trauma-informed response by multidisciplinary team (MDT) members. Read More >>

According to 2020 United States (US) Census data, over 80% of the population identifying as American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) resides in the western region of the United States. Many tribal reservations in the west are geographically isolated and have limited access to important services. To increase access to children’s advocacy center (CAC) services that are culturally responsive, CACs must first ensure they understand a key concept specific to AI/AN communities: tribal sovereignty. Read More >>

The research is clear that child and family-serving organizations such as children’s advocacy centers have an obligation to their staff to implement practices that support the workforce response to secondary traumatic stress (STS) (The Center for Child Welfare Trauma-Informed Policies, Programs, and Practices and O’Malley-Laursen, 2021). Leadership involvement in assessing the strengths and needs of their organization and deploying resources to mitigate the impact of STS is imperative. However, it is also important that children’s advocacy centers commit to implementing practices not only with children’s advocacy center (CAC) staff but with their multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) as well. Individual members of MDTs are often impacted by STS and can benefit from reflective practices as support for a trauma-informed team. Read More >>

There is no question that the work of responding to child abuse has a considerable impact on both professional and personal lives. Providers who work with children and families who have experienced trauma are increasingly recognizing the need to develop their own resiliency. Organizations are also leaning into their responsibility to establish practices and policies that support the resiliency of their employees. The National Children’s Alliance Standards for Accredited Children’s Advocacy Centers includes a requirement that Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) provide access to training and information on vicarious trauma and resiliency for multi-disciplinary team (MDT) members. While most child abuse professionals agree secondary traumatic stress is a critical issue impacting our workforce, many continue to note a need for more resources to combat its effect. Read More >>