WVCAN Accepted as Chapter of National Children’s Alliance

Trudy Laurenson and Laura Capage, co-chairwomen of the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network announced recently that WVCAN has been accepted as a chapter of the National Children’s Alliance (NCA). WVCAN became eligible for chapter membership last fall when the first two Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) in West Virginia received accreditation from NCA.

Child Protect of Mercer County and Harmony House of Marshall and Ohio counties have joined the CACs in Greenbrier and Fayette County, bringing the total to four accredited CACs in the state.

WVCAN is now joining over 45 other state chapters represented in NCA. “Concerned people in West Virginia have begun paying more serious attention to what is happening to its children,” says Laurenson. “When all the key players in a child abuse investigation — the CAC, law enforcement, Child Protective Services, the prosecutor, victim advocates, and medical and mental health — are working together, we see substantial results. One accredited CAC has seen child abuse convictions more than quadruple since its inception four years ago.”

WVCAN is a coalition of Child Advocacy Centers whose mission is to support the development, growth and continuation of CACs and multidisciplinary teams so that West Virginia communities better serve children and families when concerns of child abuse arise. WVCAN works to provide networking opportunities, communication, training, technical assistance and mentoring to independently organized CACs across West Virginia. The state currently has 18 CACs serving 27 counties.

Laurenson, who is also director of the Child and Youth Advocacy Center in Greenbrier County, is excited about the CAC movement in the state. “Child Advocacy Centers are bringing a new approach to the investigation and treatment of child abuse in West Virginia.”

Laurenson notes that West Virginia has the highest rate of child abuse referrals in the nation, and recent data shows that children in West Virginia are more likely to die from abuse and neglect than kids in any other state. “West Virginia’s child abuse statistics are alarmingly high and urgently need attention. The goal of Child Advocacy Centers is to foster multidisciplinary teamwork, which research has proven to be the most effective method of investigating allegations of abuse.”

Core components of a CAC include: separate, child-friendly facilities for interviewing and providing core services to child victims and their non-offending family members; coordinated, multidisciplinary investigations of criminal abuse (sexual, severe physical, and severe neglect); and regular interdisciplinary case review.

Attention to the needs and abilities of children is a hallmark of Child Advocacy Center programs and is the most fundamental NCA standard. Recent research has validated the long-held belief 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.

Capage, who is also director of the Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center, looks forward to the funding the chapter membership with NCA will afford. WVCAN is now eligible for grant funding, which will give a higher degree of sustainability to the organization.

In addition, West Virginia Child Advocacy Centers are currently seeking state funding. “Formerly, WVCAN was staffed entirely by volunteers from different CACs across the state,” Capage notes. “But now, we will be able to partially fund a permanent staff position for the Child Advocacy Network. This, coupled with potential state funding, will establish WVCAN and Child Advocacy Centers as a stronger presence on the statewide level, making West Virginia a safer place for children.”

Capage stresses how CACs actually save West Virginia money. “Child Advocacy Centers decrease the cost of investigations,” says Capage. “By providing a neutral, fact-finding, developmentally appropriate forensic interview by a specially trained forensic interviewer at the onset of investigations, CACs help all disciplines gain necessary, reliable information from the beginning.”

CACs encourage one coordinated investigation, rather than several parallel investigations by different disciplines, which saves West Virginia time, work, and money.



Not only do CACs decrease the cost of investigations, but also the long-term costs to the community associated with abuse. Research finds that long-term consequences of abuse are physical, psychological and behavioral.

Examples of this are sexually transmitted diseases, impaired brain development, dissociative disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression and proclivity toward abusive behavior in adulthood.

Intervening early and providing advocacy and therapy to victims of abuse and their families fosters resiliency and coping skills.