Our Mission
The Children's Advocacy Center of Collier County began serving Collier County as a Child Protection Team in 1986. Based on the idea that to protect children from child abuse and neglect involves complex issues and requires the expertise of many professionals, in collaboration. During that first year, the Child Protection Team (CPT) provided services to 167 children and their non-offending caregivers.
As Collier County began to grow, so to did the need for more help and new services for abused and neglected children. It during this time that we became a Children's Advocacy Center and expanded our programs to include the Family Safety Program and the Youth Advocates. By the 2000s, referrals had tripled, and both Parenting and our Sexual Abuse Treatment Programs were added to meet the needs of our clients.
Today the CAC coordinates the investigation, prosecution, and healing services for the most severe cases of child abuse in Collier County – those that rise to the level of a criminal offense. Each year, we serve over 1,500 children and their non-offending caregivers who were sexually abused, severely physically abused, or who had witnessed a violent crime. Our average client is a 7-year-old girl, sexually abused by someone she knows and trusts.
Help is Real,
Hope is Real
"There are far too many silent sufferers. Not because they do not yearn to reach out, But because they have tried and found no one who cares."
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Author
From our modest beginnings, the CAC is now home to five programs. Programs that facilitate a comprehensive and coordinated approach to the successful investigation and prosecution of child abusers. And programs that also provide essential services to reduce the traumatic effects of child abuse to child victims and their families.
The CAC's team of experts includes forensic interviewers, mental health therapist, family assistance advocates, pediatricians, and researchers, as well as the following partners:
2 Collier County Law Enforcement Agencies
Florida Department of Children & Families and Child Protective Services (including Child Protective Services and Child Protective Investigations )
Florida Department of Health
Collier County District Attorney's Office