What is the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center
The Core Components of the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center:
Children are interviewed at Safe Harbor using a forensic interview process utilizing the Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT) approach. The MDT includes: law enforcement, Child Protective Services, a Commonwealth Attorney, a forensic nurse, a victim advocate, a mental health therapist, and Safe Harbor staff.
Safe Harbor is a child-friendly community-oriented, facility-based program in which professionals from the core disciplines come together to discuss and recommend appropriate comprehensive services to the victims of child abuse and neglect.
The collaborative approach and follow-up services through Safe Harbor ensures that children receive child-focused services where the child’s needs are the main priority. Specially trained professionals come to the child instead of the child traveling to different offices and being interviewed multiple times. Non-offending family members find support, information, education and other services at Safe Harbor. This joint effort in a comfortable, child-friendly setting words to reduce trauma and prevent further victimization of children.
Because the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center is a community program, it was designed by leaders, volunteers and professionals to blend our areas unique needs and resources for the best interest of the child victims.