SLS 22RS-621 ORIGINAL
2022 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 11
BY SENATOR HENRY
SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH. Designates Wednesday, April 13, 2022, as Children's
Advocacy Centers (CACs) Day in Louisiana.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To designate Wednesday, April 13, 2022, as Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) Day in
3 Louisiana.
4 WHEREAS, Louisiana's Children's Advocacy Centers have made valuable
5 contributions to the state and have helped to make the state a better place for children and
6 families; and
7 WHEREAS, with the establishment of the Jefferson Children's Advocacy Center in
8 Gretna, Louisiana, in 1991, this year, 2022, marks thirty-one years for Children's Advocacy
9 Centers in Louisiana; and
10 WHEREAS, April has been designated National Child Abuse Prevention Month; and
11 WHEREAS, one in ten children will experience sexual abuse before age eighteen;
12 and
13 WHEREAS, Louisiana's Children's Advocacy Centers provides services to over six
14 thousand children each year in the sixty-four parishes of Louisiana for cases involving
15 physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and children who have witnessed
16 domestic violence and homicide; and
17 WHEREAS, Louisiana's Children's Advocacy Centers provide education and
18 awareness efforts for the prevention, identification, and reporting of child abuse; and
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SLS 22RS-621 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, in 2021 alone, Louisiana's Children's Advocacy Centers reached over
2 thirty-six thousand professionals and community members; and
3 WHEREAS, the purpose of Louisiana's Children's Advocacy Centers is to provide
4 every child victim referred to a CAC a comfortable, child-friendly environment for forensic
5 interviewing, victim advocacy, mental health, and other services in order to reduce further
6 trauma to the child and promote healing; and
7 WHEREAS, Children's Advocacy Centers work with multi-disciplinary teams of
8 child abuse professionals to coordinate child abuse investigations and interventions,
9 including district attorneys, the Department of Children and Family Services, various law
10 enforcement agencies, medical and mental health providers, and victim advocates; and
11 WHEREAS, CACs use evident-based practices to support child well-being, and that
12 research has demonstrated these programs improve outcomes for children, reduce trauma
13 for families, and save taxpayer money; and
14 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Alliance of Children's Advocacy Centers is the state
15 chapter established for the empowerment, collaboration, and advocacy of Louisiana's
16 Children's Advocacy Centers; and
17 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Alliance of Children's Advocacy Centers provides a wide
18 range of critical services to local member centers, including training, technical assistance,
19 data collection, and advocacy; and
20 WHEREAS, with ten centers that are currently fully accredited members in good
21 standing with the National Children's Alliance, and up to five centers on the path to national
22 accreditation, Louisiana's Children's Advocacy Centers are a part of a network of over nine
23 hundred centers across the nation which serve over three hundred fifty thousand children
24 annually.
25 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
26 does hereby designate Monday, April 13, 2022, as Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) Day
27 in Louisiana and does hereby commend the dedication and excellent work of the Children's
28 Advocacy Centers and their staff on behalf of the citizens of Louisiana.
29 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
30 Louisiana Alliance of Children's Advocacy Centers Board President, Aelania Auzenne, and
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SLS 22RS-621 ORIGINAL
1 Executive Director, Kate Shipley.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Kathy Liberty.
DIGEST
SR 11 Original 2022 Regular Session Henry
Designates Wednesday, April 13, 2022, as Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) Day in
Louisiana and commends the dedication and excellent work of the CACs and their staff on
behalf of the citizens of Louisiana.
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