Child Legal Advocacy
What Is A Child Legal Advocate?
- As a part of the Multidisciplinary Team response, victim support and advocacy services are provided to all CAC clients and their non-offending caregivers.
- The Child Legal Advocate will assist children and families in crisis and help them navigate through the many systems involved their investigation.
Will I Get A Legal Advocate?
- If your child’s case is picked up by the prosecutor’s office, a Child Legal Advocate may be assigned to your case. Upon receiving a referral from the prosecutor’s office, Partners’ Child Legal Advocate will contact the referred family by telephone.
What To Expect From Your Advocate:
Once assiged to your case, your advocate will:
- Maintain strict standards of confidentiality.
- Informs victims of what their rights are.
- Provide information and education to child and teen victims and families about the legal criminal justice system, courtroom procedures, and prosecutorial timelines.
- Provide emotional support, safety and comfort to the child/teen victim before, during, and after any legal proceedings, by paying close attention to the individual child’s/teens emotional state and needs.
- Maintain contact with the victim and family throughout the investigation and prosecution when requested by the family, Prosecutor, or the law enforcement officer.
- Accompany the child/teen and family to any prosecutorial or defense interviews with the victim, and at any judicial proceedings related to criminal acts committed against the victim.
- Provide the family with updated information regarding the status of their case, continuances, dispositions, sentencing and inmate status notifications. (including offender release from custody)
- Connect victims with available resources.
- Act as a liaison between victims and the prosecutor.