Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas

The Arkansas State Police operates a child abuse hotline that receives some 60,000 calls a year, and about half of them turn into cases for the state Department of Human Services or the State Police. That’s where the private Children’s Advocacy Center of Arkansas comes in.

“They are seeing the need for this partnership because state agencies can’t provide all these services at a quality level,” Executive Director Elizabeth Pulley said.

CACA is the state-level chapter of a national movement that began in Huntsville, Alabama. The state organization employs just three people, but it provides support for local nonprofit organizations that operate 17 full-time centers and eight satellite centers around the state.

The Arkansas network has more than 100 employees and serves about 6,000 children per year by providing “whatever help they need,” Pulley said. That includes creating child-friendly facilities at which forensic interviews can be conducted by trained professionals and recorded so that victims need not be subjected to repeated questioning in a variety of settings.

Children’s Advocacy Centers meet more immediate needs as well — clothes, food, transportation, medical examinations and mental health services. The state office, which will be adding two more employees this year, helps the local organizations with fundraising. CACA also offers educational programs on body safety for children at schools and community centers, and training for adult staff to spot signs of abuse and to know what to do when they suspect abuse.

In Arkansas, CAC dates back to the late 1990s and has continued to expand its network. But 25 sites are not enough, Pulley said. The most recent addition was in Baxter County, and new centers are coming to Clinton (Van Buren County) and western Benton County. The state organization hopes eventually to have a center within an hour of every child in the state.