The Arizona Child & Family Advocacy Network
ACFAN supports the establishment, sustainability, and improvement of advocacy centers that serve victims of sexual and family violence.
What Is ACFAN?
The Arizona Child and Family Advocacy Network provides support, training and guidance to all advocacy centers in Arizona and their professionals who coordinate services and respond to family violence and sexual assault. Efforts are made to accommodate special needs and multilingual populations.
The network was created to support communities seeking to establish and improve advocacy centers and current advocacy programs to better serve abused and neglected children and their families.
What Is an Advocacy Center?
An advocacy center is a comprehensive, victim focused program based in a facility that allows law enforcement, child protection professionals, prosecutors, victim advocates, forensic interviewers, medical professionals, and mental health providers to work together when intervening and investigating violent crimes against children and adults. A video below helps you see how a CAC can help a child. Arizona has chosen to apply this method for over 30 years to all victims of abuse in which created a "Family Advocacy Centers" model; where victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Elder Abuse, & Human Trafficking may also receive services in a safe trauma focused environment.
The overall goal of all advocacy centers is to ensure that the victims who are entrusted to the centers are not further victimized by the systems that are designed to protect them.
Advocacy centers were created more than a three decades ago, based on the premise, “together we are smarter” when responding to victims of violent crimes. Since that time, there are more than 800 centers nationwide supported by the National Children’s Alliance.
The Purpose of Advocacy Centers
- Minimize further trauma to victims
- Provide comprehensive victim services
- Thorough investigation
- Aggressive prosecution
- Communication!
- Provide consequences for bad acts
The network assists communities and centers with:
- Trainings
- Resource Development
- Network Services and Ideas
- Coordinated Services
- Site Visits
Integrating Services to Support Victims
Advocacy centers located throughout Arizona are designed to provide onsite services to child victims of either physical or sexual abuse as well as neglect. Some centers provide services to adult victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, or vulnerable adult abuse.
