Children's Advocacy Center of Smith County

Many victims of abuse develop painful psychological symptoms deeply impacting their overall quality of life. The emotional difficulties children experience after victimization are complicated, embarrassing and painful.

Children’s Advocacy Center of Smith County’s trained mental health professionals provide therapy so children may heal from these wounds safely, confidentially and healthfully. Therapists provide intervention that is child-friendly and trauma-focused, ensuring clients have the best chance for a restored childhood and an even brighter future.

The majority of therapy clients are child victims, yet Children’s Advocacy Center of Smith County recognizes that abuse devastates not only the child, but also the family members, or secondary victims. Therapy for primary and secondary victims alike is a proven and critical part of the healing process.

Therapists take care to provide this kind of holistic treatment so that the entire family is educated, equipped and experiences the real comfort of these words: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Therapy at Children’s Advocacy Center of Smith County is provided by full-time, licensed and board certified mental health professionals, as well as supervised, master’s level student interns in the field of psychology. Therapists and student interns alike use evidence-based interventions to ensure clients receive the highest quality of treatment. Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment and proven to be a highly effective intervention for victims of abuse. The majority of abuse victims have symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress and TF-CBT treats the symptoms in the context of the trauma specific to our clients: THE ABUSE.

The goal of Play it Safe!™ is to help children recognize, react to, and report dangerous situations. Play it Safe!™ is an evidence informed, research-based, and age-appropriate child sexual and physical abuse prevention program for kindergarten through middle school age students.

Presentations are classroom-based so that
children are in a familiar environment and feel comfortable enough to interact with the trainer. Each presentation lasts approximately one hour and includes an age appropriate script followed by a 10-20 minute movie.

This curriculum is age-appropriate and grade specific with children being taught new information as they mature. It is suggested that children be exposed to the program each year to reinforce concepts and ideas in a consistent manner. Each grade level is introduced to the “safety rule,” and it is taught by using stories and scenarios that children may encounter on a daily basis, such as bullies, peer pressure or exploitation by friends/family. The “safety rule” encourages assertive responses, whether it is used with strangers or someone the child knows.

Children are also taught about different types of touching. Students will hear stories related to the different types of touch and then learn to apply the “safety rule” to these touching situations. Decision-making skills and assertive responses are taught at each grade level. In addition, children learn that touching problems can happen with strangers, acquaintances, friends, and family members.

Child abuse prevention programs are certainly not the complete answer to the problem of child abuse and exploitation, but they provide a piece of a more comprehensive community approach.

The Family Advocacy Program is critical to the success of child abuse investigations serving as the “link” between the child, the family and the multidisciplinary team. The Family Advocate educates families on the roles of the investigating agencies, how the investigation will proceed and the systems that are in place to help children and families. The Family Advocate provides ongoing individualized support and assistance to children and families experiencing the trauma of child abuse. Children’s Advocacy Center of Smith County recognizes child abuse devastates not only the child, but also the family. The Family Advocate meets with the family to assess immediate needs and provide assistance with emergency resources, such as counseling services, medical care, housing, employment, clothing and other basic living needs. Based on each individual family, the Family Advocate provides referrals and coordination of additional social/family services. Court preparation is also provided.

Approximately 6,000 Smith County children have experienced some form of trauma, causing the brain to go into survival mode. Classroom behaviors displayed by children of trauma can be misunderstood as acts of defiance, when underneath the misbehavior is a child suffering from abuse, chronic stress, shame and broken trust. School administrators and educators work daily with these children but may be unaware of who the students are and how to help. Being a Trauma Informed School is a commitment to identify, understand and address the needs of children of trauma through daily practices that focus on building trusting relationships and emotional safety. This training causes schools to undergo a paradigm shift at the administrative and staff level which shapes school culture, classroom climate and social interactions so students of trauma build resilience and are able to self-regulate their behavior and emotions, positively impacting the entire school and the life trajectory of students.

About 100 children receive non-emergency (aka “non-acute”) Sexual Assault Nurse Examinations (SANEs) at the CACSC every year. Because many of our clients do not receive adequate medical care from an advanced medical provider, we have uncovered injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, and non-related medical issues that need to be addressed as they journey toward healing & restoration.
When emergency exams are needed, medical professionals gather the evidence law enforcement needs to get justice for child abuse victims necessitates thorough medical exams. And they take hours to complete. To prevent victims from being further traumatized by the chaos of the ER, the CACSC provides these exams in a peaceful, non-threatening environment that’s made specially for kids.