September 30, 2021

The FNCAC is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization that was founded in 1996 by the membership of six local centers.

The CACs cover 85% of the communities in FL where abused children can go to seek services We are an Accredited State Chapter of the National Children’s Alliance.

The primary functions of the FNCAC are to educate and support children’s advocacy centers through specialized training and technical support, to advocate for children’s advocacy centers at the state and national levels, and to manage and distribute funds to Florida’s children’s advocacy centers.

What is a Children's Advocacy Center (CAC)?

The 2021 Krimes Against Kids Conference provided 56 workshops for leadership, law enforcement, prosecutors, mental health therapists, forensic interviewers, advocates, medical service providers, with over 200 in-person and 190 virtual attendees.

Participants shared the following feedback about the conference:

This was my first conference with you all. It was WONDERFUL! I was engaged the entire time throughout each session, and I was able to take back so much information to my team members. Thank you so much!!!

Completely loved the Implicit Bias and Intersectionality workshop. Learned so much.

This training was awesome!

I really appreciated having the handouts prior to the presentation as it made it easy during presentations to follow along and add additional notes to each reviewed point.

I enjoyed all sessions I attended and gained very useful knowledge to apply to my daily work.

I really like the venue that was used for this conference. I found very beneficial the information that was provided.

Very informative. Enjoyed attending very much.

Great Speakers that provided new information.

It was very good, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

Loved the first session discussing religion and spirituality as it relates to abuse victims; very helpful.

Great conference with a great atmosphere!!

All the speakers/instructors were excellent!

Amazing conference, I learned so much and cannot wait for next year!

I really enjoyed the keynote speaker and his topic. His presentation was the first time that I realized I needed to FIND the spiritual supports in my community/provider and make them part of my day-to-day toolbox.

The FBI speaker was great, bring her back

Keep up the great work!

Voyager, the wonder facility dog, registering with Michèle Vaught for the 2021 Krimes Against Kids Conference.

In the news...

A Call to Action...Survivors Speak Truth to Power!

I’m sure you have heard about this testimony of gymnasts at a Senate hearing that happened September 15, 2021. Senator Coons from Delaware brought up how Children's Advocacy Centers can be used by the FBI and others to keep victims from falling through the cracks. Link to the full recording: Gymnasts Testify

Senator Coons: (55:57)

I just want to briefly share with you one of the most concerning parts of what you shared with us today was about your initial interviews with the FBI, where it was conducted, how it was conducted, that you were left alone as a teenage girl to have an interview by phone with an FBI agent who somehow suggested what you were testifying to wasn't horrific or tried to persuade you that it wasn't that bad or under a circumstance that made it clear to you that the person responsible for USA Gymnastics might be present and might have somehow compromised that interview. The whole way in which all of your interviews were conducted was just awful. Now, sadly, that's been the experience for millions of victims of child sexual abuse over decades in the United States. And the positive thing I just wanted to share with you today is that for years now, there has been a national network of child advocacy centers.

Senator Coons: (56:59)

There's one in each county in my state, which brings together trauma informed, child welfare professionals and law enforcement to make sure that victims are only interviewed once, that they're interviewed in appropriate settings, that they're interviewed in a way that respects and recognizes the trauma and the abuse they've suffered, and that ensures that your horrible experiences in terms of those initial interviews, and it's been compounded by your having to testify and speak again and again. We are working on that system, Senator Blunt and I will soon re-introduce a bill that will re-authorize this and double the funding for it. There's now a national network of 880 of these child advocacy centers all over the country. So I just wanted to share with you and with any victim of abuse or the families who know about their child's abuse who might be watching that what happened to you should not and need not happen again.

Senator Coons: (58:04)

There are professional, trauma informed, child welfare centered opportunities around the country to seek justice. And Ms. Maroney, I can see what I've just said has particularly impacted you. Thank you all four of you for your courage, your persistence, and your demands for justice. Thank you.

FNCAC Board President Jackie Stephens discusses multidisciplinary teams (MDTs and Child Protection Teams (CPTs)

Be like Voyager, get your Stop Child Abuse License tag today: click here to purchase your tag.