Annual Reports

2021 was the year of perpetual motion. Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) prioritized outreach to children who, as a result of the pandemic, had been largely out of sight of the teachers, school counselors, and other professionals who are most likely to report suspected abuse. The result of that outreach was a significant jump in the number of children served by CACs—the largest number of children our field has ever reached in one year: 386,191.

While our members provided child victims of abuse with expert care, NCA worked to lift the voices of children beyond the walls of the CAC, reaching the halls of Congress with our message about the urgent need to fix funding for victims’ services, so children could continue to receive trauma-informed care at their local CAC. You were vital to our success, helping us amplifying children’s voices.

In our 2021 Annual Report, we introduce you to just a few of the NCA members who help kids heal and thrive:

• In “The Power (of the Purse) to Heal Communities,” experts from Project Harmony in Omaha, Nebraska; Children’s Advocacy Center of Jackson County in Oregon; and Safe Horizon in New York City talked to us about how NCA, State Chapters, CACs, and a multitude of other organizations from all around the country came together to halt a catastrophic drain on funding for victim services.
• From New Mexico, the teams at Childhaven Children’s Advocacy Center and its satellite, Hummingbird Children’s Advocacy Center, are a terrific example of collaborating to reach underserved communities. In the first full year of the American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Subgrant Program, Childhaven showed us how they are “Adapting to Meet the Needs of Native American Communities.”
• More than 300 CACs in 46 states took advantage of our new Youth Feedback Survey to hear from the children they serve what they like and don’t like about their CAC experience. In our story, “In Their Own Voice,” ChildSafe in San Antonio shares how what the children told them lead to ChildSafe making changes to their building even more of a healing environment.
• In “To Serve Kids Better, Question Everything,” Dominic Prophete from Wynona’s House in Essex, N.J., shows why every five years, NCA and our members rigorously re-examine the standards we set for ourselves to make absolutely sure we are doing what’s best for the children and families who come to us for help.
• And, in “Little Details Make a Big Difference,” the leadership and staff of Copper River Basin Child Advocacy Center in Alaska and its Valdez satellite center share how they are making the most of what they learned in the Enhance Early Engagement (E3) Training Project to help children heal.

Along with highlights of our work in 2021, you’ll also get a quick look at some of what we’ve accomplished so far in 2022 and what’s coming next. View the complete Annual Report online now.