Child Advocacy Centre (CAC)
Definition
A child-focused facility that houses the medical, investigative, and support functions of a child abuse case in one location. The multidisciplinary team (MDT) model reduces the number of interviews a child must endure and improves evidence quality.
- Model
- Multidisciplinary team (MDT)
- Combines
- Medical, investigative, support functions
- Benefit
- Fewer interviews, better evidence quality
- Population
- Child abuse cases
Common questions
Why does reducing the number of interviews improve evidence quality?+
Each additional interview risks introducing suggestion, inconsistency, or trauma that a defence attorney can use to challenge a child's credibility, so a single coordinated forensic interview conducted by a trained specialist and shared across agencies preserves a cleaner, more reliable account.
Which agencies typically staff a CAC's multidisciplinary team?+
A CAC team typically includes law enforcement, child protective services, forensic interviewers, medical examiners, victim advocates, and prosecutors, coordinated so each professional accesses the same interview and evidence rather than conducting separate ones.
Related terms
- Abusive Head Trauma (AHT)
- Intracranial injury resulting from violent shaking, with or without impact. Findings include subdural haematoma, subarachnoid haemorrhage, diffuse axonal injury, and retinal haemorrhages....
- Metaphyseal Corner Fracture
- A fracture through the metaphyseal collar of a long bone, producing a triangular or bucket-handle fragment. Caused by traction and torsion forces...
- Non-Accidental Injury (NAI)
- Physical harm inflicted deliberately or through gross neglect rather than by accident. The term is preferred over 'child abuse' in clinical documentation...
- Posterior Rib Fracture
- A fracture at the posterior rib near the costotransverse junction. Produced by forceful anteroposterior chest compression (as in squeezing), not by simple...
- Skeletal Survey
- A full radiographic series of the skeleton (AP skull, lateral skull, chest, spine, pelvis, and all long bones) performed in suspected NAI...