Giving Tuesday November 29th

One Story, One Time

1-in-3 Canadians (34%) report experiencing some form of abuse before the age of 18.

What is a Child And Youth Advocacy Centre and How Does It Help Children?

Without a Child And Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC), the child or youth may end up having to tell the worst story of their life over and over again, to doctors, police, lawyers, therapists, investigators and others. Following the interviews, the child and family may be left to navigate the daunting criminal justice system and healing process on their own.

Did you know more convictions are successful when a child advocacy centre is used? 

We only have WALLS now

And need your support to renovate and build our office to the legal regulations of an advocacy centre for example, the forensic rooms.

The Chinook Child And Youth Advocacy Centre (CCYAC),under the governance of the Chinook Sexual Assault Centre, is dedicated to giving children and youth who have experienced sexual, emotional, and/or physical abuse or severe neglect, a safe space to share their story and receive the support and resources they need throughout the entire disclosure, investigation, and judicial process. As a community response, the CCYAC provides an early and seamless, coordinated and collaborative approach to addressing the needs of children and youth who have experienced abuse and their non-offending family members.

One Story, One Time

Our blended approach brings together a multidisciplinary team of community partners including Alberta Health Services, Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, Blood Tribe Children’s Services, Blood Tribe Police Service, Lethbridge Police Service, Piikani Child and Family Services, RCMP, South Region Children’s Services, and Taber Police Service to offer unified services that provide the right support at the right time in a welcoming, child-friendly, and safe environment. This approach facilitates efficient interagency communication and information sharing, ongoing involvement of key individuals, and support for children and families which are associated with less anxiety, fewer interviews, and more appropriate and timely referrals for needed services. Additionally, each agency gains the benefit of a broadened knowledge base from which decisions are made and improved and timely evidence gathering.

With your donation you can change the trajectory of many children's lives. 

We know that child abuse can have long term implications on health, opportunity, and wellbeing if left untreated. In fact, if trauma is not addressed early in life, the child is:

• 26 times more likely to experience homelessness in their lifetime
• 30% less likely to graduate from high school; and,
• 4 times more likely to be arrested as a youth.

Fear and pain should not be the defining moments of a child’s life. But for many it is the reality. People grow up with these scars instead of knowing the joy of security. We can stop the impacts of child abuse from manifesting onto our streets in homelessness, addiction, and poverty.

Our Chinook Child and Youth Advocacy Centre provides for this transformational change by:

• Reducing trauma and increasing safety through a welcoming, child-friendly space where additional system trauma and revictimization are minimized by limiting the number of times a child must repeat their story.
• Nurturing support for parents, caregivers, and families by providing early and seamless access to services and ensuring the child and family have adequate support and follow-up.
• Increasing convictions of offenders because highly trained forensic interviews improve disclosures, arrests, decisions to prosecute, and convictions.
• Delivering services in Southwest Alberta so families mitigate risk of lost wages and travel to large centre’s such as Calgary.

With your support we can complete our build and begin our full services. You can be the difference to a little soul and change the future for our younger generations and those yet to come.

On this Giving Tuesday what a brilliant way to spread hope and offer concrete skills for a child to have a successful life.

Since November 2021 we have helped 169 Children.

 Please Donate, SHARE And Fund The Renovation