New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department: Child Advocacy Centers

The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department will provide funding for the purpose of developing and maintaining culturally competent and sustainable Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) in New Mexico. Supported CAC’s will be dedicated to providing an array of child abuse or neglect intervention services in order to minimize the long-term effects of child maltreatment and promote meaningful community involvement and shared responsibility. These services include, but are not limited to the following elements:

• On-site and/or off site forensic interview services
• Family and child advocacy services
• Mental health services
• Medical services
• Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) coordination and facilitation
• Case review and case tracking
• Creation, development, and facilitation of community partners to strengthen connections within and between families as well as the community to promote child abuse prevention

All services, coordination and resources funded shall be designed to be flexible to meet the needs of families, victims, and MDT members at the local and/or regional levels. Services should be inclusive as well as responsive to the ethnic, cultural, racial, and socioeconomic diversity of the state and local community. Forensic interviews and family advocacy services are critical to a family whose children are experiencing physical abuse, sexual abuse, or who have witnessed violent crimes. Furthermore, the CAC ensures that every child or youth who is referred to forensic interviews and family advocacy services from law enforcement, CYFD, or the District Attorney receives the best possible care, treatment, and support. In addition to the service array, a CAC should be in good standing or striving toward meeting National Children’s Alliance (NCA) standards to ensure children that are served by a CAC receive consistent, evidence based, interventions that help them heal.

A CAC enhances the response to suspected child abuse and neglect cases by combining the expertise and professional knowledge of various investigative agencies and other professionals. All entities involved in the CAC share a core philosophy that child abuse is a multifaceted community problem that requires a coordinated community response with no single entity, individual, or discipline who has the necessary knowledge, skills, or resources to unilaterally serve the needs of child victims and their non-offending family members. A CAC facilitates a multidisciplinary approach to the assessment of allegations of abuse and neglect. The multidisciplinary team includes child protective services, law enforcement, the local district attorney’s office, medical providers, behavioral and mental health providers, and family advocates.

Amount: Funding will establish contract(s)/agreement(s) and be awarded for a term of four years (one year with three additional one year renewals).

Eligibility: An Offeror is defined as “any person, corporation, or partnership who chooses to submit a proposal.”

Link: https://cyfd.org/for-providers/rfp

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