The Broome County Child Advocacy Center aims to begin the healing process for child victims of abuse in a safe and warm environment.

The Broome County Child Advocacy Center opened in July 1997.  As of December 2016, 3,489 children have come through its doors.  That is by no means all children reported to be victims of sexual abuse during this period of time. An estimated 250-300 children are reported annually to be victims of child sexual abuse in Broome County alone.

Today we are proud to expand our program to serve children who are witness to violence.

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3.3 million children witness domestic violence each year in the U.S.

One third of children witnessing domestic  violence have also experienced another form of abuse.

Nationally, 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys will be victims of sexual abuse.

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The C.A.C. aims to begin the healing process for victims of sexual abuse as soon as possible. Our goals include:

• Providing a safe, child friendly, controlled setting for the investigative interview.
• Reducing the number of times a child must tell the same information to different people.
• Coordinating the sharing of appropriate case information between investigative partners.
• Providing a multidisciplinary approach to the investigation.
• Providing referrals to medical exam specialists.
• Providing a Family Liaison for support, education, and crisis intervention counseling.
• Providing linkage to other appropriate treatment services.
• Reducing the ‘system trauma’ that can accompany these cases; striving to do no further harm.
• Providing education, support and assistance to the community around issues of child sexual abuse.
• Giving greater assurance that justice can be served; that offenders will be held accountable and innocent parties will be exonerated in a timely manner.

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In order to utilize the services of the 
CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER,
 incidents of suspected child abuse must be reported, either to the 
State Child Abuse Hotline OR to the Police.

If your child or a child you know has been abused:
- stay as calm as possible
- call the NYS Child Abuse Hotline
1-800-342-3720
or
 YOUR LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENT