Children's
Advocacy Centers of Oklahoma, Inc. (CACO) was established in 1999 as a 501(C)
3. This voluntary organization serves Child Advocacy Centers (CAC's) and Multidisciplinary
Teams (MDT's) in their efforts to provide services to suspected or confirmed
victims of child abuse in a child-friendly environment while coordinating the
corresponding investigation. The combined approach of CAC's and MDT's is based
on the close cooperation of teams comprised of representatives from the Department
of Human Services, law enforcement, prosecution, mental health, the medical
community, and child advocacy center personnel. This minimizes trauma to children
while addressing their needs and strengthening future prosecutions.
CACO has established a
state office with personnel and services to coordinate center activities and
growth throughout the state. The primary function of this office is to assist
centers in developing and strengthening their programs and facilities. The
office also coordinates and provides training by seeking experts within the
various disciplines of centers and teams. Additionally, the office facilitates
communication between centers to gain and distribute the collective knowledge
of centers throughout the state.
Annual operational funding
is needed to maintain the state office. This funding will allow CACO to maximize
the effectiveness of all centers, which will in turn provide the best possible
service to abused children in their time of need.
At
present, there are eighteen fully accredited centers and three developing centers
in Oklahoma. In 2007, these fully accredited centers served approximately 5000
children. Of these, about fifty percent were victims of sexual abuse. The remaining
children represent physical abuse and/or neglect. Similar numbers of children
have been served in each of the years for which CACO has collected data. New
centers will be added in areas that do not have ready access to center services
at this time. Considering this, it is fair to say that as the number of centers
increases, the number of children served will increase as well. CACO's goal
is to grow the total number of accredited centers in the state to twenty-nine.
HISTORY
CONTRIBUTIONS
Contact Us
Children's Advocacy Centers of Oklahoma
Executive Director, Sherri Snyder
427 K SW Ardmore, Oklahoma 73401
Phone: 580-504-0683 Fax: 580-223-0075
caco1999@sbcglobal.net
