Since opening our doors in June 2001, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Erie County (CAC) has been dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and to providing an immediate, effective, and well-integrated community response when any child is harmed.
A guiding principle of the CAC is to reduce the trauma child victims experience during the course of an investigation and to ensure they receive the services they need to recover. Every effort is made to hold offenders accountable and create a safer community for children.
Together with our partners, the CAC:
- Provides a child-friendly facility as the setting for investigative interviews.
- Coordinates all professionals involved with the investigation so the child experiences fewer interviews.
- Offers multi-disciplinary staffing, referrals, education, and training to enhance child abuse investigation and prosecution.
In addition, the CAC focuses strongly on child abuse prevention and community education.
Services
On Site
- Forensic Interviewing
- Family Advocacy
- Child Abuse Prevention Information
- Mandatory Reporting Information
- Minimal Facts Interviewing Training
- Speakers Bureau
Prevention Education
ACT Raising Safe Kids is an early-intervention program for parents and caregivers of young children (birth to age 10). Its goal is to teach positive parenting skills and practices that:
- Help create stable, safe, healthy, nurturing home environments.
- Build strong family relationships that protect children from adverse experiences such as abuse and neglect—and their lifelong consequences.
The Period of PURPLE Crying is an evidence-based program designed to prevent shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma. It educates parents and caregivers about the normal, yet often frustrating, crying patterns in healthy infants.
The acronym “PURPLE” highlights key characteristics of this crying phase—such as its peak intensity, unpredictability, and resistance to soothing. The program helps caregivers understand and cope with these challenges, ultimately reducing the risk of harm to infants.
