St. Louis Children's Advocacy Center (St. Louis CAC) is affiliated with the School of Social work and Psychological and Brain Science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) and are accredited by the National Children's Alliance (NCA). We work with children from ages 2 through 18 who have experienced any kind of trauma and provide an array of services including forensic interviews, counseling and training.
Our vision: Every child is safe, supported, and surrounded by a trauma-informed community.
Our mission: We transform lives by breaking the cycle of childhood trauma through service, research, and workforce development.
Backstory of our Logo
We have chosen our new name to be St. Louis Children’s Advocacy Center. Our name identifies the community we serve and roots us in our mission, to transform lives by breaking the cycle of childhood trauma through service, research, and workforce development.
Our vision is that every child is safe, supported, and surrounded by a trauma-informed community. That’s a mighty vision and one you all continue to demonstrate commitment to through the work you do.
The paper airplane was chosen as our logo because it represents both the innocence of childhood and the hope of safe, forward flight into the future, for children, budding professionals, and the partners we work alongside day in and day out. As a child advocacy center children are the core of our why.
Every child deserves the freedom to play, to imagine, and to dream, without fear. A paper airplane, made from something as simple as a sheet of paper, reminds us that even small beginnings can soar when given support, protection, and care.
For us, the airplane also symbolizes the role of St. Louis Children’s Advocacy Center: helping children navigate difficult times and giving them the lift they need to move forward with strength and resilience. Just as a paper airplane needs a gentle launch to take flight, children need the steady hands of safe adults and a supportive community to help them rise and we are part of their takeoff.
Our logo is a promise: that every child we serve is seen, heard, and believed—and that with the right support, their futures can be filled with hope, healing, and possibility.
What are child advocacy centers?
Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) developed in the late 1980s to help coordinate communities’ responses to child sexual abuse victims. The National Children's Advocacy Center in Huntsville, Alabama was the first center that operated under this model. Child advocacy centers coordinate services to the victim in one child-friendly location, working with a multidisciplinary team that is usually comprised of representatives from child protection, law enforcement, prosecution, medical and mental health professionals and the juvenile/family court. This coordination expedites the investigation and when appropriate, prosecution of abuse cases while ensuring that victims receive effective, sensitive and immediate support in a setting that puts their needs first. The collaboration dramatically reduces the number of times a child is questioned about the abuse.
Why are child advocacy centers needed?
Discovering that a child has been the victim of abuse, neglect or another form of trauma can be very destabilizing to a child and their family. Telling someone about the abuse, especially when it is committed by a family member or someone close to the child can also be a frightening, difficult experience. Often, when there is an investigation by child protective or law enforcement agencies this can be confusing and frightening. Prior to the rise of CACs, a child sexual abuse victim had to repeat the experience of the abuse to multiple people, some of whom interviewed the child several times. Before CACs were available the child would be taken to the professional, whereas now the child is brought to the CAC and all the professional come to the child. Centers provide the children with a friendly and welcoming place where they are able to get the support they need through the forensic interview, advocacy services and therapy.
Where are child advocacy centers located?
There are now more than 800 CACs across the country, with 22 centers in the state of Missouri. They vary in size and format, but they all share a common goal: to provide a safe haven for child abuse victims. A list of accredited centers by state can be found on NCA's website or on the Missouri KidsFirst website.
