(FREDERICKSBURG, VA) National Children’s Alliance recognizes the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center for its delivery of high quality and effective services to child abuse victims through accreditation Fredericksburg, VA, 02/08/2015 – The Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center has been awarded accreditation by National Children’s Alliance following an extensive application and site review process. As the accrediting agency for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) across the country, National Children’s Alliance awards various levels of accreditation and membership to centers responding to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient, and put the needs of child victims of abuse first. Accreditation is the highest level of membership with National Children’s Alliance and denotes excellence in service provision.
The Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center opened May 1, 2009 and serves the City of Fredericksburg and the Counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford. Since opening, the center has served over 900 child victims of abuse. As an Accredited Member of National Children’s Alliance, Safe Harbor is dedicated to providing comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate services to victims of child abuse.
National Children’s Alliance awards Accredited Membership based on a CAC’s compliance with 10 national standards of accreditation to ensure effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services to child abuse victims. National Children’s Alliance updated these standards in 2010 to reflect the most recent evidence-based practices in the field of child abuse intervention and prevention. According to these standards, Accredited Members must utilize a functioning and effective Multidisciplinary Team approach to work collaboratively in child abuse investigation, prosecution, and treatment. National Children’s Alliance also considers standards regarding a center’s cultural competency and diversity, forensic interviews, victim support and advocacy, medical evaluation, therapeutic intervention, and child focused setting.
“As an organization/team of individuals dedicated to responding to child abuse, we recognize the importance of accreditation from National Children’s Alliance and supporting the Multidisciplinary Team approach. Accreditation not only validates our organization’s proven effective approach to responding to allegations of child abuse, but also provides consistency across the child advocacy center movement as a whole,” said Pamela Garrett, Executive Director.
“The Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center is to be commended for its excellent work serving victims of child abuse. As the national association and accrediting body for Children’s Advocacy Centers across the country, our goal is to ensure that every victim of child abuse has access to high quality services that result from professional collaboration,” remarked Teresa Huizar, Executive Director of National Children’s Alliance.
For more information about the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center, visit http://www.safeharborva.org. The Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center exists to strengthen the coordinated community response to situations of child maltreatment, including sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, and severe neglect by integrating the existing resources of law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, medical and therapeutic agencies so that perpetrators are held accountable for their actions and children are not further traumatized by the investigative process.
National Children’s Alliance is the national association and accrediting body for the over 750 children’s advocacy centers serving each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Dedicated to helping local communities respond to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient, and put the needs of child victims of abuse first, National Children’s Alliance provides support and advocacy to its accredited membership, as well as numerous developing centers, multidisciplinary teams and child abuse professionals around the country, and the world. As the national authority on multidisciplinary approaches to supporting child victims of abuse, the purpose of National Children’s Alliance is to empower local communities to provide comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate services to victims of child abuse. Founded in 1998, National Children’s Alliance provides accreditation opportunities, financial assistance, training, technical assistance, research and education to communities, child abuse professionals and children’s advocacy centers throughout the United States in support of child abuse intervention, advocacy and prevention. http://www.nationalchildrensalliance.org
Executive Director,
Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center
CONTACT
Pamela Garrett
540.891.6280
pamelagarrett@safeharborva.org
MEDIA CONTACT
Myandi Peterson
540.872.8350
Randallpr@hotmail.com
Fredericksburg PR 