What We Do
Our Program
To best serve children and families in Monongalia County, the Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center operates these programs:
Children and families have no out-of-pocket expenses for participating in these programs.
The CAC Program provides clinical services for children who have been abused. Services include forensic interviews, individual therapy & intensive therapy groups for abused children and their non-offending family members (child sessions are provided at either the school or our CAC), mental health screenings, psychological evaluations, parent-training, victim support/ advocacy for abused children, crisis intervention, and case management. We provide not only direct services through our CAC Program, but we also coordinate and support a multidisciplinary team of professionals through this program that includes prosecutors, law enforcement officers, child protection workers, medical professionals, mental health professionals, and victim advocates. In the neutral setting of the MCCAC, team members can collaborate on strategies for investigations and plan interventions that put the child first. This innovative, multidisciplinary approach has been shown to improve outcomes for children.
Our CE Program provides community education on child abuse, child abuse prevention techniques, and resources available in our community. The MCCAC also provides training for West Virginia University students on how to evaluate, treat, and support child abuse victims and their families through our internship program.
Our PC Program works with at-risk children Monongalia County Schools have identified who have experienced loss, significant anxiety and depressive symptoms, involvement with the court systems, or other traumatic experiences not covered by other programs. Children in this program receive therapy and family advocacy.
Our DEC Program is a family treatment program because addiction impacts the entire family system. We provide support for parents, children, foster parents, and family members providing kinship care. The goal of the DEC Program is to keep families together or ultimately reunite families that have been separated.
Who is eligible? Families involved with the child welfare system (or at rick) who are struggling with: addiction, domestic violence, multigenerational trauma, or parents with mental health disorders.
Assessment Phase
When families enroll in the DEC Program, parents and children will receive evaluations. The results will be used to customize a treatment plan for each family member.
Intervention Phase
During this phase of the DEC Program, parents and children recieve services separately. Some of the services are provided at MCCAC, and some are provided by community partners as identified on the treatment plan. Children receive trauma focused treatments to help them process their experiences. They learn relaxation strategies, feeling identification expressing feelings safely, and cognitive coping skills. Parents develop recovery plans and identify supports. They will receive intensive therapy to address addiction and past traumas. Each parent is partnered with a DEC advisor at MCCAC who provides individual and group supportive counseling to focus on identifying parenting strengths and weaknesses, learning how to meet their child/children’s unique needs, making health decisions, anger management, developing coping strategies to manage distress, and creating healthy relationships.
Reunification Phase
Once the parents and children have met their individual treatment objectives, family therapy is provided to strengthen relationships and aid in the reunification process. Families will focus on topics such as healthy relationships, effective communication strategies, setting boundaries, and developing safety plans. Parents will take responsibility for past struggles and actively suport their child/children as they heal. This phase can continue event after a court case had ended.
Each family is assigned a Family Advocate who serves as a case manager and provides the family with additional support throughout their time in the DEC Program. The Family Advocate monitors the family’s progress and updates the MDT. The Family Advocate also attends MDT meetings, court hearings, and school meetings.
In 2025, we served 968 children and family members impacted by child abuse and/ or trauma at our Center.
These services included:
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- 259 forensic interviews
- 6,362 family advocacy services
- 1,225 intensive therapy sessions
We use assessments to guide treatment decisions and assess progress for our mental health services. Our services have been shown to decrease emotional and behavioral symptoms in children, increase adaptive skills in children, and decrease parental stress.
To report abuse, please call CPS at 1-800-352-6513 or your local law enforcement agency.
Volunteer
Your time is a graciously accepted gift, as well! When you volunteer at MCCAC, you are helping sustain safety for at-risk youth in our community. If you are interested in volunteering with our Center, please contact Taylor Shultz (tshultz@moncocac.org) to hear about current opportunities. Please note: Due to the confidential nature of our services, volunteer opportunities that offer direct interaction with clients are limited. Volunteers who interact with families at the Center must pass a child abuse registry and criminal background check.
If you are a student at a local college or university and would like an internship at our agency, please contact Dr. Capage at lcapage@comcast.net