Our Story
The Lancaster County Children's Alliance (LCCA) is the county's only Child Advocacy Center (CAC) that provides comprehensive, coordinated, and compassionate services to child victims of abuse. LCCA works to coordinate the response and services for children, utilizing a team approach to ensure that children are not re-victimized by the very system designed to protect them by bringing together medical, mental health, child protection, law enforcement, prosecution, and victim advocacy professionals in one place - in a safe, child-focused facility dedicated to helping abuse victims. LCCA provides forensic interviews, specialized forensic medical evaluations, family advocacy, specialized mental health services, a non-offending caregiver group, and case coordination for the children and families referred to our center.
Since its creation in 2006, LCCA has provided services to more than 8,800 children ages 6 months to 18 years from the community. Prior to the creation of Child Advocacy Centers, a child had to recount their painful experience to as many as 15 different adults and relive their most traumatic event over and over and over. With the creation of CACs, such as LCCA, the number of people to whom a child must tell their story is minimized and the conversations happen in a comfortable, safe location.
Each year the number of children and caregivers passing through LCCA’s doors has increased, resulting in the need for a larger facility. In January 2020 LCCA moved to a new, larger and more accessible facility. This new space enabled LCCA to continue treating the growing number of victims of child abuse as it is specifically designed to provide a safe and supportive environment for children who have suffered the worst. The increased capacity will help LCCA offer more options to children and adolescents and enable multidisciplinary team members to more effectively and efficiently gather evidence to help prosecute abusers, all while helping the child take their first steps down the long road to healing.
While we cannot change what has happened to a child, we can change what happens next. By supporting the Lancaster County Children’s Alliance YOU can be part of the solution and help ensure that each and every child victim has access to the services they urgently need when children have experienced the worst.
Visit our Facebook page for more information https://www.facebook.com/LancasterCountyChildrensAlliance/ .