Referrals to the Madison County Child Advocacy Center are made through the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and law enforcement.

In addition to coordinating a multidisciplinary team response and providing a child friendly environment for intervention, the CAC provides two basic services: case management and forensic interviews for children involved in allegations of abuse.

Case Management

When a child victim arrives at the Madison County Child Advocacy Center, a Case Manager greets the child victim and non-offending family making the child comfortable in one of the age appropriate waiting areas.

The Case Manager is available to provide information and support to child victims and their non-offending family members.  Initially, the Case Manager meets with the family to gather information and to provide education about the effects of abuse and ways to protect the child from further abuse.   Families work with the Case Manager to arrange counseling and access to other services as needed.

Forensic Interviews

Forensic Interviews create an environment that provides a child the opportunity to talk to a trained professional regarding what the child has experienced or knows that resulted in a concern about abuse.  The purpose of a forensic interview is to obtain a statement from a child, in a developmentally and culturally sensitive, unbiased and fact-finding manner that will support accurate and fair decision making by the involved criminal justice and child protection systems.

The Madison County Child Advocacy Center employs specially trained forensic interviewers to provide child-focused, developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive forensic interviews.

Madison County Child Advocacy Center 101 E. Edwardsville Road Wood River, IL 62095 Phone: (618) 296-5390 Fax: (618) 296-5380 Email: childadvocacy@madisoncountyil.gov

Child Abuse Hotlines National Hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD (422-4453) Illinois Hotline 1-800-25-ABUSE (252-2873)