HLS 24RS-2127 ORIGINAL
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 79
BY REPRESENTATIVE COATES
SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH: Designates April 11, 2024, as Child Advocacy Center
(CAC) Day in Louisiana
1 A RESOLUTION
2To designate Thursday, April 11, 2024, as Child Advocacy Center (CAC) Day in Louisiana.
3 WHEREAS, Louisiana’s Child Advocacy Centers have made valuable contributions
4to the state and have helped to make the state a better place for children and families; and
5 WHEREAS, April is designated National Child Abuse Prevention Month; one in ten
6children will experience sexual abuse before age 18; and
7 WHEREAS, Louisiana’s Child Advocacy Centers provide services to over 7,000
8children each year in the 64 parishes of Louisiana for cases involving physical abuse,
9neglect, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and children who have witnessed domestic
10violence and homicide; and
11 WHEREAS, Louisiana’s Child Advocacy Centers provide education and awareness
12efforts for the prevention, identification, and reporting of child abuse; in 2023, the centers
13reached over fifty-eight thousand professionals, children, and community members; and
14 WHEREAS, the purpose of Louisiana’s Child Advocacy Centers is to provide every
15child victim referred to a CAC a comfortable, child-friendly environment for forensic
16interviewing, victim advocacy, mental health, and other services in order to reduce further
17trauma to the child and promote healing; and
18 WHEREAS, CACs work with multidisciplinary teams of child abuse professionals
19to coordinate child abuse investigation and intervention, including district attorneys, the
20Department of Children and Family Services, various law enforcement agencies, medical
21and mental health providers, and victim advocates; and
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HR NO. 79
1 WHEREAS, CACs use evidence-based practices to support child well-being, and that
2research has demonstrated that these programs improve outcomes for children, reduce
3trauma for families, and save taxpayer money; and
4 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Alliance of Children’s Advocacy Centers is the state
5chapter established for the empowerment, collaboration, and advocacy of Louisiana’s Child
6Advocacy Center and provides a wide range of critical services to local member centers,
7including training, technical assistance, data collection, and advocacy; and
8 WHEREAS, with eleven centers that are fully accredited members in good standing
9with the National Children’s Alliance, and three centers on the path to national accreditation,
10Louisiana’s Child Advocacy Centers are a part of a network of over 900 centers across the
11nation which serve over 350,000 children annually.
12 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
13Legislature of Louisiana does hereby designate Thursday, April 11, 2024, as Child Advocacy
14Center (CAC) Day in Louisiana and does hereby commend the dedication and excellent
15work of the CACs and their staffs on behalf of the citizens of Louisiana.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 79 Original 2024 Regular Session Coates
Designates April 11, 2024, as Child Advocacy Center (CAC) Day in La.
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