Victims Assistance Center of Jefferson County, Inc.

The mission of the Victims Assistance Center Child Advocacy Center of Northern New York is to strengthen and protect children, families and community through an interdisciplinary approach to cases of child sexual and physical abuse. Our multidisciplinary team promotes early intervention, coordinated investigations, and collaborative action plans. The goal is to provide a safe, neutral, and child-friendly setting for child interviews, coordinating all victim services including medical services to expedite the investigation and prosecution of cases while providing effective and immediate support services with minimal re-traumatization.

Services offered to child victims and their non-offending family members include:

• Forensic interviews by law enforcement and child protective services
• Referrals for counseling and therapeutic intervention
• Victim support/advocacy
• Medical evaluations by certified professionals
• Case review and case tracking

Multi Disciplinary Team Members

• Victims Assistance Center of Jefferson County, Inc.
• Jefferson County District Attorney's Office
• New York State Police Troop D & Bureau of Criminal Investigation
• Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
• City of Watertown Police Department
• Fort Drum Emergency Services Military Police & Criminal Investigation Division
• Jefferson County Department of Social Services, Child Protective Services Division
• County of Jefferson Office of the County Attorney
• Jefferson County Probation Department
• New York State Parole Office
• Jefferson County Medical Examiner
• Samaritan Medical Center
• Carthage Area Hospital

Grant Funding

• New York State Office of Child and Family Services

On Monday morning, October 17, 2011, BBC released worldwide the results of its months’ long investigation of child maltreatment fatalities in the U.S. Despite upwards of 2500 such deaths a year, national media in the U.S. have never reported on the issue in the same comprehensive manner as the BBC is doing this week. Long overdue, it is hoped that BBC’s week-long reporting of ‘America’s Child Death Shame’ will help finally prompt a federal inquiry and a national strategy for combating the problem. You can learn more about this major BBC story, and when and where it will be aired by visiting:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15288865

To learn more about how to stop child maltreatment deaths go to www.everychildmatters.org and see what the National Coalition to End Child Abuse Deaths is recommending.

Michael Petit
President
Every Child Matters Education Fund