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SUFFOLK
COUNTY
CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER
at The Pat & Mary Bagnato Place For Kids
80 Wheeler Road
Central Islip, NY 11722
(631) 439-0480 |
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Description/Purpose: The Child Advocacy Center at The Pat and Mary Bagnato Place For Kids, operated by the Education & Assistance Corporation (EAC), is a facility for child victims of physical and sexual abuse. The Mission of the Child Advocacy is to provide a neutral child friendly environment where a coordinated response to child abuse allegations may be pursued in ways that support and protect children, non-offending parents and other family members. Each staff member is a certified Emergency Room Companion who is on call 24 hours a day to meet child victims of sexual assaults at hospital emergency rooms. In addition the Child Advocacy Center hosts public education forums on issues related to child abuse as well as providing referrals, accompaniment to court, offering much needed emotional support to the child and families and assistance in completing forms for Crime Victims Board reimbursement. Child Advocacy Center staff facilitates a peer support group for child victims and their non-offending parents called the Kids 2 Kids program. The Child Advocacy Center serves predominately children from Suffolk County and has bilingual staff to assist families who only speak Spanish.
Program Impact/Outcomes: The Child Advocacy Center is a nationally accredited program who is overseen by a Multidisciplinary Team. The team is composed of representatives from the District Attorney’s Office, the County Attorney’s Office, the Police Department, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Health Division of Community Mental Hygiene Services, Medical Staff and EAC. Using a multidisciplinary team approach, the Child Advocacy Center improves investigations and prosecutions of child physical and sexual abuse cases, enhances interagency communication and cooperation and provides the family with services and assists them throughout the investigation and legal processes. Each year the Child Advocacy Center sees over 400 children. In 2008 the Child Advocacy Center provided 218 medical exams, 241 interviews and 35 Family Court Extended Forensic Exams. Staff at the CAC assisted over 400 families with CVB claims and providing over 900 referrals for additional assistance.
Funding: The Child Advocacy Center is supported by the County of Suffolk, NYS Crime Victims Board, the NYS Office of Children and Family Services and by private donations from individuals and corporations. |
