Child Advocacy Center Gets Over $600,000
by Randy Pierce
Madison County’s Child Advocacy Center is receiving over $600,000 in grant money from four different sources to continue pursuit of its goals through the end of June next year, according to legislation approved in August.
Supported unanimously by the members of the Madison County Board present at its most recent meeting was the designation of the grant funds for the CAC to be included in the current fiscal year budget and, with one exception, halfway into the one for 2025 with no requirements for additional matching funds in any amount to be required from the local government unit.
The Illinois CAC agency is providing $297,474 in grant money that is being added to the county’s Victims of Criminal Acts funds covered by the local center.
Another $284,419 is being received to cover the county CAC’s administrative costs from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
There has been $40,000 in grant money given to the county CAC by the office of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul through its Violent Crime Victims Assistance program in an account established for this purpose.
A non-profit organization called the Center for Justice Innovation (formerly known by a name which included “Court” in the place where it now says “Justice”), based in New York City, has supplied the Madison County CAC with $8,215 to help cover the cost of printing and distributing child victim and witness support materials.
The duration of the grant period for this money from the CJI concludes on Oct. 30 of this year while the others run through June 30, 2025.
The Madison County Child Advocacy Center provides professional intervention and supportive services to fight child abuse. Most importantly, it provides a safe haven for children to talk about the physical or sexual abuse they may have experienced and to help in limiting the number of times a child has to be interviewed. Before the CAC opened, a child who was a victim of or witnessed a violent crime would often be interviewed by eight to 12 different people before the case went to trial. Because of the CAC, abused children no longer have to endure such a strenuous interviewing process and authorities are better able to prosecute abuse cases.
It is estimated that nearly 3,500 children are physically and/or sexually abused in Madison County each year, although only 10 percent of sexual abuse cases are ever reported. The Madison County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) is available to help when child abuse has been reported.
As an accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance, the Madison County facility has waiting rooms furnished with child and teen friendly furniture and toys so the child feels more relaxed. In this setting, the children find a comfortable, positive atmosphere, where they are supported by a multidisciplinary team of professionals.
The center is equipped with recording equipment that allows members of the investigative team to observe the forensic interview of the child. The team meets before and after the interview to plan and further coordinate the investigation.
Working in partnership with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, local law enforcement, the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office, and professionals from the medical and mental health fields, the operations of this CAC, located at 101 East Edwardsville Road in Wood River, are overseen by a 13-member advisory board that includes State’s Attorney Tom Haine and Sheriff Jeff Connor, while also receiving support from a nine-member “friends board.”
The four resolutions designating the grant funds for the CAC were brought forward by the county board’s finance and government operations committee chaired by Dalton Gray of Troy.
