SLS 23RS-699 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 37
BY SENATOR HENRY
SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH. Designates Thursday, April 27, 2023, as Child Advocacy
Center (CAC) Day in Louisiana.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To designate Thursday, April 27, 2023, as Child Advocacy Center (CAC) Day in Louisiana.
3 WHEREAS, Louisiana's Child Advocacy Centers have made valuable contributions
4 to the state and have helped to make the state a better place for children and families; and
5 WHEREAS, April has been designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month;
6 and
7 WHEREAS, one in ten children will experience sexual abuse before age 18; and
8 WHEREAS, Louisiana's Child Advocacy Centers provide services to over 6,000
9 children each year in the 64 parishes of Louisiana for cases involving physical abuse,
10 neglect, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and for children who have witnessed domestic
11 violence and homicide; and
12 WHEREAS, Louisiana's Child Advocacy Centers provide education and awareness
13 efforts for the prevention, identification, and reporting of child abuse and in 2022, reached
14 over 54,000 professionals and community members; and
15 WHEREAS, the purpose of Louisiana's Child Advocacy Centers is to provide every
16 child referred to a CAC a comfortable, child-friendly environment for forensic interviewing,
17 victim advocacy, mental health, and other services in order to reduce further trauma to the
18 child and promote healing; and
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SLS 23RS-699 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, Child Advocacy Centers work with multidisciplinary teams of child
2 abuse professionals to coordinate child abuse investigation and intervention, including
3 district attorneys, members of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services,
4 various law enforcement agencies, medical and mental health providers, and victim
5 advocates; and
6 WHEREAS, Child Advocacy Centers use evidence-based practices to support child
7 well-being, and research demonstrates that this approach improves outcomes for children,
8 reduces trauma for families, and saves taxpayer money; and
9 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Alliance of Children's Advocacy Centers is the state
10 chapter established for the empowerment, collaboration, and advocacy of Louisiana's Child
11 Advocacy Centers and provides a wide range of critical services to local member centers,
12 including training, technical assistance, data collection, and advocacy; and
13 WHEREAS, with ten centers that are currently fully accredited members in good
14 standing with the National Children's Alliance, and up to five centers on the path to national
15 accreditation, Louisiana's Child Advocacy Centers are a part of a network of over 900
16 centers across the nation which serve over 350,000 children annually.
17 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
18 does hereby designate Thursday, April 27, 2023, as Child Advocacy Center (CAC) Day in
19 Louisiana and does hereby commend the dedication and excellent work of the CACs and
20 their staff on behalf of the citizens of Louisiana.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
22 Louisiana Alliance of Children's Advocacy Centers Board President, Aelania Auzenne, and
23 Executive Director, Krystle Mitchell.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Kathy Liberty.
DIGEST
SR 37 Original 2023 Regular Session Henry
Designates Thursday, April 27, 2023, as Child Advocacy Center (CAC) Day in Louisiana.
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