The Native American Children's Alliance (NACA)
is an intertribal, cross-mentoring organization whose mission
is to inspire and support the development, growth, and maintenance
of multi-disciplinary teams and Children's Advocacy Centers in
Native American and Alaska Native communities in their efforts
to address child sexual abuse. NACA was formed in April of 1999
and held it's first formal meeting on September 26, 1999 in Tulsa,
Oklahoma.
The Native American Children’s Alliance was formed in response
to the need for tribal Child Advocacy Center development. Many
professionals did not believe it was possible to develop CAC’s
in Indian Country given the challenges involved in multi-jurisdictional
coordination, lack of sustainability of current child abuse program
initiatives, facility –based programming, and lack of community
resources to sponsor the “mainstream” funding model
for CAC’s. NACA was formed to support existing tribal CAC
programs and to promote the development of CAC’s and MDT’s
in tribal communities.
OUR MISSION
The mission of NACA is to “Serve as a cross-mentoring organization
to inspire and support the development, growth and maintenance
of Multi-disciplinary Teams and Child Advocacy Centers for Native
American and Alaska Native Communities.” This mission means
that we must listen to the voices of our children, their families,
and their communities in order to create programs and services
which will serve the needs of child abuse victims.
The Child Advocacy Center model promotes a focus on
the child and family. Multiple agencies come together
to provide a coordinated response to child maltreatment, most
often child physical and sexual abuse. While each agency involved
in investigating these cases has their own legislative mandate
to investigate various aspects; the CAC is viewed as a neutral
facility which provides a warm, child centered, non-threatening
environment. Children who, in the past had to be interviewed often
up to 10 or more times; now can be interviewed far fewer times
using this coordinated approach.
The CAC is uniquely situated to provide services and coordinate
efforts that no single agency can provide alone. The CAC can also
be the focal point for all services in addition to the interview
e.g., medical exams, treatment, therapy for both child and non-offending
parents and other family members and follow-up support. Child
Advocacy Centers in tribal communities emphasize a holistic approach
to child abuse and domestic violence. Many tribes promote the
traditional value that all things are connected within the natural
world and that child abuse in interconnected with other challenges
that tribal people have experienced. Tribal CAC’s and MDT’s
often view health and healing as important as prosecution in child
maltreatment cases. In providing healing tribal communities often
use both traditional and western modalities.
