Backgrounder: Government of Canada Announces Funding for Child Advocacy Centres Across Canada

Child Advocacy Centres (CACs) are a seamless, coordinated and collaborative approach to addressing the needs of child victims or children who have witnessed a crime.  CACs minimize system-induced trauma by providing a child-friendly setting for child victims or witnesses and their families. 

Professional services offered by CACs may include coordinated interviews by law enforcement and Crown Attorneys, examination of the child by a paediatrician or child psychologist, and trauma counselling.  The goal of a CAC is to minimize the number of interviews and questions directed at the child, thereby minimizing any additional system-induced trauma.  The result of this approach is a reduction in the system-induced trauma for the child. This reduction in trauma enables children to provide stronger evidence, which can lead to an increase in charges laid, guilty pleas, convictions and appropriate sentences.

CACs help children and their families navigate the justice system in a number of ways.  These include providing the child with a safe and comfortable environment in which to be interviewed by criminal justice professionals, minimizing the number of interviews for the child and ultimately leading to better communications between agencies supporting young victims.  The use of video taping technology at CACs has proven an effective method for gathering valuable information to help the child and the justice system.  CACs may also provide education and training to justice professionals on the best practices for interviewing child victims and witnesses. 

Child Advocacy Centres:

• Centre d'expertise Marie Vincent, Montréal, Québec
• BOOST Child Abuse Prevention and Intervention, Toronto, Ontario
• Child Advocacy Centre Niagara, St. Catharines Ontario
• Zebra Child Protection Centre, Edmonton, Alberta
• Orca Child Advocacy Centre, Victoria, British Columbia

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Department of Justice Canada
October 2010