Office: 1001 East Monroe (Adjacent to County Building) Springfield, IL 62701 Phone: (217) 522-2241 (217) 522-2360 (FAX) The Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center is responsible for the coordinated investigation of all child sexual abuse cases. Teams of investigators from the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS), the Springfield Police Department, the Sangamon County Sheriff's Department, and the Illinois State Police are assigned to the Center to interview and investigate the cases referred to the Center. Child victims are interviewed in the Center's warm and friendly environment in an effort to reduce the trauma of sexual victimization. The Center employs a Case Manager who provides support and advocacy for the children and their non-offending family members. An Assistant State's Attorney is also assigned to the Center to monitor all the cases and file criminal charges when appropriate. Since 1992 the Center's Community Educator has been providing sexual abuse prevention programs in all Sangamon County schools. Over 4,000 children receive training each year. In addition, teachers and other professionals are trained on handling a disclosure, indicators of abuse and mandated reporting. In 1994 the Center added a counseling component where each victim and their non-offending family members are offered crisis-intervention counseling. In 1995 the Center adopted the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program and began training community volunteers to be a child's voice in juvenile court. While the Center functions as a social service agency, it is a department of Sangamon County government. A county property tax referendum, passed in 1991, accounts for nearly half of the Center's funding. The remaining funding comes from grants from the Attorney General's office, DCFS, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, National CASA, Springfield Economic Development, the National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, and various Sangamon County groups and businesses. The Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center's e-mail address is scacasa@fgi.net