Safe Horizon Child Advocacy Centers focus on anti-racism at all levels

Each of our five CACs has an Interagency Operating Committee (IAOC) comprised of higher level leadership from the MDT (New York City Police Department, Administration for Children’s Services, Onsite pediatricians, Assistant District Attorneys, Corporation Counsel, and Safe Horizon leadership. The IAOC Racial Equity Workgroup meets monthly to consider the ways in which race and bias show up in our agencies and work at the CAC’s.

The CAC Citywide Anti-Racism Workgroup membership is comprised of Safe Horizon staff from each of the CACs. The group, which has been meeting for nearly a year, was formed to focus on anti-racism work at the CACs, hold CAC leadership accountable, and to support change at every level.
Formalizing the workgroup grew out of informal brainstorming by CAC staff on ways to deepen anti-racism over the past few years.

Since the workgroup’s formation, members have focused on thinking critically about the CACs’ co-located settings and relationships with multiple systems, including child protection and law enforcement.

The workgroup has hosted several forums so that staff could share their experiences and perspectives. With that information, members began regular discussions on the CACs’ story of where we are and where we want to be. Workgroup members have diverse identities and roles. They bring their wisdom and vision to reimagining our policies and procedures through an equity lens.

Safe Horizon helps Carlotta and Maria heal from sexual abuse and find a safe home

Carlotta’s family was in COVID quarantine when her 12-year-old daughter Maria mustered up the courage to tell her mother that her stepfather was sexually abusing her.

Carlotta was horrified, but despite her fear and uncertainty, she called the New York State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment to report the abuse immediately. That’s when she and Maria were connected to a Safe Horizon’s Child Advocacy Center. When Carlotta and Maria arrived, our Clinical Forensic Specialist, Sheena, greeted them warmly – masked and socially distant – and Carlotta knew her daughter was in good hands.

As Maria disclosed her abuse to the forensic interviewer, Sheena sat with Carlotta to put her at ease and to let her know what to expect while she and Maria were at the CAC, including a medical evaluation and a brief trauma intervention. During their conversation, Sheena helped Carlotta plan the family’s next move. Carlotta needed to move out of the apartment where the abuse occurred immediately, but between her full-time job in healthcare and caring for her daughter, she needed help finding a new apartment. Thankfully for Carlotta, at Safe Horizon we provide holistic care and crisis management services to help survivors with all their needs through a citywide network of more than 150 program sites providing assistance with finding housing, crisis counseling, mental health interventions, and a myriad of other services. With the help of a Safe Horizon Community Program, Carlotta secured a new apartment within a matter of weeks – and today, she and Maria are safe, well on their way to healing as a family.