The Children’s Advocacy Center of Centre County, Mount Nittany Health, has been awarded accreditation by National Children’s Alliance following an extensive application and site review process.
As the accrediting agency for Children’s Advocacy Centers across the country, National Children’s Alliance awards various levels of accreditation and membership. Accreditation is the highest level of membership and denotes excellence in service provision.
The Centre County center opened in February 2014 to meet the needs of children and families in the community by providing a community based, child-focused organization that facilitates a compassionate, multi-disciplinary approach to the prevention, identification, intervention and treatment of child abuse.
“We are so proud of this accreditation,” says Kristina Taylor-Porter, executive director of Children’s Advocacy Center of Centre County. “Accreditation validates our center’s proven, effective approach to responding to allegations of child abuse and truly shows that our main priority is the well-being of the child.”
National Children’s Alliance awards accreditation based on a center’s compliance with 10 national standards of accreditation to ensure effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services to child abuse victims. According to these standards, accredited centers must utilize a functioning and effective multi-disciplinary team approach to work collaboratively in child abuse investigation, prosecution and treatment.
The alliance also considers standards regarding a center’s cultural competency and diversity, forensic interviews, victim support and advocacy, medical evaluation, therapeutic intervention and child-focused setting.
“The Children’s Advocacy Center of Centre County is to be commended for its excellent work serving victims of child abuse. As the national association and accrediting body for Children’s Advocacy Centers across the country, our goal is to ensure that every victim of child abuse has access to high quality services that result from professional collaboration,” says Teresa Huizar, executive director of National Children’s Alliance.
For more information about the Children’s Advocacy Center of Centre County, visit www.mountnittany.org/childrens-advocacy-center.
