Making a Difference in Our Community
The Charlotte Hungerford Hospital’s Center for Youth and Families has been an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance since 1999 and services children and families throughout Northwest Connecticut. The Center provides an array of services including child abuse investigation coordination, a multidisciplinary team, forensic interviewing and out-patient therapy. Out-patient services include a Trauma Team, extensively trained in the evidenced based model, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
As an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance the Center for Youth and Families is dedicated to providing comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate services to victims of child abuse and their family members in northeast, Connecticut.
As the accrediting agency for the 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 abuse victims of abuse first. Accreditation is the highest level of membership with the National Children’s Alliance and denotes excellence in service provision.
National Children’s Alliance (NCA) 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. NCA 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. NCA also considers standards regarding a center’s cultural competency and diversity, forensic interviews, victims support and advocacy, medical evaluations, therapeutic intervention, and child focused setting.
“The Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Center for Youth and Families is to be commended for its excellent work in serving victims of child abuse. As the national association and accrediting body of Child 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 the National Children’s Alliance.
For more information on Child Abuse Prevention Activities and Trainings, contact the Center for Youth and Families at 860.489.3391.
The Center for Youth and Families is partially funded by the Department of Children and Families, the Office of Victim Services and The National Children’s Alliance.