"Experts on child abuse from across Pennsylvania joined forces at Penn State Wednesday....
"The conference carried a complicated name, "Protecting Pennsylvania's Children by Building Multidisciplinary Investigative Teams/Child Advocacy Centers," but the meaning could not be simpler -- keeping kids safe.
"Child advocacy centers (CACs) are part of a growing trend to make reporting cases of child abuse less traumatic for victims. According to the NCA such centers served more than 260,000 child victims of abuse in 2010, including 8,600 in Pennsylvania.
"Multidisciplinary Investigative Teams (MDITs) include various professionals; police, social services, legal and medical. Working together, CACs and MDITs minimize the stress on child abuse victims. The goal is to have a trained interviewer speak with a child victim just one time....
"...[It's] a one stop shop. "It is a safe place for a child to feel comfortable in sharing their story, and hopefully, it's by an interviewer who is well-trained, who doesn't ask leading questions, and it's an interview that can be preserved for everybody as they move forward in the investigation," she says....
"Huizar says there is tremendous ignorance about child victimization. However, more people are getting the word about predators, "even a year ago people never heard of grooming behavior," she says....
"Huizar told the audience that CAC's really work. "What kids remember is that, 'I felt safe and people believed in me,'" she says before adding, "Our big challenge is to ensure that all kids have access to these services. Kids can get better and will get better based on what we do."...
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