Senator Chris Coons (D. DE) is looking out for the children:
http://www.delmarvapublicradio.net/...
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons is joining Delaware officials to talk about efforts to save funding for Children's Advocacy Centers.
Coons is helping lead an effort in Washington to restore federal funding for Children's Advocacy Centers after money was zeroed out in President Obama's budgets for 2013 and 2014.
Children's advocacy centers work to coordinate investigations and intervention services in child abuse cases. - Delmarva Public Radio, 4/26/13
Here's a little more info about the CAC:
http://www.delawareonline.com/...
Randall Williams, director of the center, said the money slated for cuts is used to pay for the organization’s office space in Dover and Georgetown and to partially fund the salary of its statewide executive assistant.
The organization’s offices, including one in Wilmington, are where trained staff from the center conduct interviews with child victims that are analyzed by legal experts and mental health professionals and used to prosecute abusers. Last fiscal year, the center conducted 1,478 such interviews, three-quarters of which were related to sexual abuse cases.
The one-on-one interviews are aimed at getting a full, single account of the evidence a child victim has to offer.
“Prior to the centers, you had children interviewed multiple times, you had children interviewed in police lockups and hospital emergency rooms,” Williams said. “Telling their story over and over again, they were being retraumatized, revictimized, by the system that was really supposed to help them.”
The loss of federal funding for child advocacy centers nationwide also would mean the elimination of training, continuing education and accreditation programs, which give local centers the credentials necessary for their methods and evidence to hold up in court. - Delaware Online, 4/26/13
The Delaware CAC was the one that cracked down on a very big case regarding child sexual abuse:
http://www.wboc.com/...
The Delaware CAC handled the interviews in the infamous Dr. Earl Bradley child sex abuse case.
"I don't want people to forget while that was 250 cases that year," said Williams. "We still handle more than 1,400 interviews every single year."
In the past, abuse victims and their families sometimes had to endure a series of interviews by different agencies in different locations, repeatedly reliving and recounting horrible incidents.
Overall, federal funding, including money from the federal Victims of Crime Act, accounts for about 25 percent of the Delaware CAC's $1.3 million budget, Williams said. VOCA funds, which come from criminal fines and penalties and help pay for a forensic interviewer and three mental health specialists in Delaware, are not at issue. But Williams said money from the child abuse act helps pay for office leases in Dover and Georgetown and staffing at the Dover center. And he added a cut in funding could mean a cut in services.
"We don't want to close a center, but that's on the table. We don't want to lay off staff, but that's on the table."
Instead of a police station or hospital, the CAC interviews are conducted in a child-friendly office environment. The walls of the waiting room at the Dover center are lined with toys such as doll houses, trucks and play ovens, and a magazine rack in the corner is stocked with issues of "Highlights" children's magazine. - WBOC 16, 4/26/13
Coons has been gathering support for more funding:
"I was very angry that a $20 million line item for this program was eliminated in 2013," Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Friday during a visit to the Children's Advocacy Center in Dover. The similar lack of funding in Obama's proposed budget for fiscal 2014 was disappointing and represented a "disconnect," he said.
On Friday, Coons and 30 other senators sent a letter to Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who lead a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee, asking that $20 million be appropriated for the Victims of Child Abuse Act. - WBOC 16, 4/26/13
Coons has long been fighting cuts to CAC:
The administration proposed the same cut last year, but it was never incorporated into a congressional spending resolution and the funding remained in place.
“I just want to make sure that, in the long run, it’s a clear commitment from members of Congress as well as the administration to sustain this vital funding,” Coons said. - Delaware Online, 4/26/13
If you'd like to learn more about CAC, you can go here:
http://www.cacofde.org/
You can also contact Coons with any questions or concerns you may have about funding for the Children's Advocacy Center:
(202) 224-5042