As the accrediting agency for Children's Advocacy Centers (CAC) across the country, National Children's Alliance awards various levels of accreditation and membership to centers responding to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient, and places the needs of child victims of abuse first.
Accreditation is the highest level of membership with National Children's Alliance and denotes excellence in providing services.
S.A.R.A., Inc. became a 501 [c] (3) in April of 2007, and in 2009 executive director Paula Bragg and the Board of Directors were approached by the Colorado Children's Alliance to consider developing a child advocacy center that would serve the 13th Judicial District.
The Children's Advocacy Center component of S.A.R.A., Inc., referred to as SARA House, serves all children referred by law enforcement and/or departments of human services by providing forensic interviewing, forensic examinations, and family support services.
As an accredited member of National Children's Alliance S.A.R.A., Inc. is dedicated to providing comprehensive, coordinated, and compassionate services to victims of child abuse.
National Children's Alliance awards accredited membership based on a CAC's compliance with 10 national standards of accreditation to ensure effective, efficient and consistent delivery of services to child abuse victims.
National Children's Alliance updated these standards in 2010 to reflect the most recent evidence-based practices in the field of child abuse intervention and prevention.
According to these standards, accredited members must utilize a functioning and effective multidisciplinary team approach to work collaboratively in child abuse investigation, prosecution, and treatment.
National Children's 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.
"Our organization works with a team of individuals who are dedicated to responding to child abuse. We recognize the importance of accreditation from National Children's Alliance and support the Multidisciplinary Team approach," Bragg said.
"Accreditation not only validates our organization's proven effective approach to responding to allegations of child abuse, but also provides consistency across the child advocacy center movement as a whole," she added.
"S.A.R.A., Inc. is to be commended for its excellent work serving victims of child abuse,"said Teresa Huizar, executive director of National Children's Alliance. "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."
S.A.R.A., Inc. (Sexual Assault Response Advocates) is dedicated to the empowerment of sexual assault victims through direct client services; community education that impacts deep-seated beliefs and behaviors; and the development of a coordinated community response to the crime of sexual assault.
Experts estimate that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before their 18th birthdays. Thirty percent are victimized before the age of 12.
Among high school students surveyed nationwide, about 11 percent of girls and 4 percent of boys reported having been forced to have sex, and 23 percent had experienced sexual harassment while attending school.
The violence is rarely reported.
Programs are offered through S.A.R.A., Inc. to bring awareness to students, parents and allied professionals about what constitutes such crimes, about what the community response should be and about the increased risk of a range of sexual and reproductive health problems with both immediate and long-term consequences.
As the recent multitude of reported sexual assault cases indicate, youth victimization and child sexual assault are community problems that will permeate the future, negatively, unless individuals mobilize to make positive change.
The Board and staff of S.A.R.A., Inc. extends a heartfelt "Thank You" to the community, the multi-disciplinary teams and the organization's many donors for their support and willingness to take responsibility to keep children safe and to hold perpetrators of this devastating and life altering crime accountable, Bragg said.
S.A.R.A., Inc., as a non-profit organization, accepts donations from the community to support the necessary services. Donations may be mailed to P. O. Box 633, Fort Morgan, CO 80701. For more information about S.A.R.A., Inc. visit SARAinc.org.
National Children's Alliance is a national association dedicated to helping local communities respond to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective, efficient and puts the needs of child victims of abuse first.
As the accrediting body for the over 700 Child Advocacy Centers around the country, National Children's Alliance provides training, financial support, technical assistance, leadership, national advocacy and access to current research findings on a national level to children's advocacy centers around the country as well as numerous developing centers, multidisciplinary teams and child abuse professionals.
As the national authority on multidisciplinary approaches to supporting child victims of abuse, the purpose of National Children's Alliance is to empower local communities to provide comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate services to victims of child abuse. nationalchildrensalliance.org.
S.A.R.A., Inc. is a United Way agency.
