Children's Alliance Center of Berks County
Children's Alliance Center of Berks County
The Children's Alliance Center of Berks County ("CAC") is a service of the Berks County District Attorney's office that serves child victims of sexual abuse under the age of 18. The CAC strives to reduce the child's trauma by providing a unique multi-disciplinary response to child abuse. We enable law enforcement, prosecutors, child protective services, victim advocacy agencies and the medical and mental health professions to work together as a collaborative team to investigate and prosecute cases. Children are interviewed once, and various agencies observe the interview simultaneously to reduce the number of interviews and the amount of emotional stress. This model provides for more successful prosecutions while providing a child-friendly environment. Since opening in July 2004, we have helped thousands of children through our services. The CAC is an accredited member of the National Children's Alliance, located in Washington, DC.
The following program components are necessary for accredited membership in the National Children's Alliance:
- Multidisciplinary Team
- Diversity, Equity and Access of Services
- Forensic Interviews
- Victim Support and Advocacy
- Medical Evaluation
- Mental Health
- Case Review and Coordination
- Case Tracking
- Organizational Capacity
- Child Safety and Protection
Children's Alliance Center Staff
Amy Sundstrom, Director
Laura Kemp-Reichard, Victim Advocate
Jennifer Hack, Forensic Interviewer
Dairicelis Rodriguez Guzman, Forensic Interviewer/Organizational Development Specialist
Latest News
Information And Resources
Did You Know?
- Every year, the Children's Alliance Center of Berks County conducts approximately 400 forensic interviews.
- The greatest risk comes from friends and family, not strangers.
- Experts estimate that 1 in 10 children will be affected by child sexual abuse.
- Symptoms of sexual abuse can include physical and behavioral signs, but behavioral signs are more common.
Links To Our Partners
- Berks Counseling Associates
- Berks County Children and Youth Services
- Berks County District Attorney's Office
- Berks County Detective's Office
- Berks County Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Program
- Local police departments and State police
- Empowerment Behavioral Health
- Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems
- Penn State Health St. Joseph
- Reading School District
- Safe Berks
- Service Access & Management, Inc.
- Tower Health