Children's Advocacy Center of North and Northwest Cook County

Coordination, Advocacy, and sensitive interviewing ("casi"): this program provides direct intervention in child sexual abuse cases through coordination of multidisciplinary investigation, crisis intervention for victims, court preparation, counseling, and extensive follow-up and case tracking. Support groups provide ongoing support for nonoffending parents, caretakers, victims, and siblings through disclosure and intervention. Groups are both educational and supportive and always free of charge.

Safe from the start ("sfts"): this program is an effort to develop and implement coordinated community systems for preventing and responding to the harmful effects of exposure to violence on children from birth to age five. The project began at the national level and has since filtered down to state and local areas. Beginning in october 2000, the agency joined, as lead agency, forces with other area professionals to form a coalition that will focus on children and families living in the communities of hoffman estates, schaumburg, hanover park, and streamwood. The program now serves all of Northwest Cook County.

Family support services ("fss"): this program is designed to assess, monitor, and attempt to reduce risk situations in families where an allegation of abuse has been investigated and risk to the child(ren) is not sufficient to warrant protective placement or intact family services. These services are provided through intensive case planning, which includes home visits and community resource linkages. Nonintensive services include short-term therapy, child abuse assessments, child treatment groups, parent support groups, and community linkages.

Prevention services.