Kids-TALK Children's Advocacy Center

Who We Are

Kids-TALK Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) focuses on the safety, social and emotional health, and stability of children and families throughout Wayne County. Our vision is a world where child survivors of abuse, neglect and trauma receive the protection, support and treatment needed to heal. Kids-TALK CAC offers comprehensive services in coordination with a network of experts to guide suspected victims of abuse and trauma through the investigation, assessment, treatment and prevention of child maltreatment.

• • Watch How CACs Help Kids
  • View Kids-TALK CAC infographic

Who We Serve

Throughout Wayne County, Kids-TALK serves children through age 17 and their non-offending family members at two child-friendly facilities in Southgate and Detroit. Services include forensic interviewing, advocacy, onsite medical evaluations, mental health services, and outreach and prevention programming.

If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected please contact the Department of Health & Human Services’ Centralized Intake for Abuse and Neglect immediately at 855-444-3911. Click here for information on potential signs of abuse or neglect.

Our Partner Network

Together with a network of leaders from the medical and mental health community, Kids-TALK CAC reduces the trauma experienced by child victims of suspected abuse. Kids-TALK CAC creates a safe and child-friendly environment where abused and traumatized children receive the protection, support and treatment they need to heal. Partners include:

• The Guidance Center
• The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office
• Wayne County Law Enforcement Agencies
• Wayne County Department of Health & Human Services
• Michigan Department of Attorney General: Wayne County
• Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network
• Children’s Hospital of Michigan
• Avalon Healing Center (formerly Wayne County SAFE)
• The Welcoming Project

Urgent Need in Wayne County

• • About 1 in 7 girls and 1 in 25 boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. (darknesstolight.org)

• • An estimated 40% of sexually abused children do not show symptoms or signs of being abused. (apa.org)

• • Children’s Protective Services estimated that 9.1 out of every 1,000 children are victims of child maltreatment; however studies show that number could be as high as 1 in 4 children. (USDHHS, Child Maltreatment 2018)

• Of those survivors, 4,741 live in the city of Detroit (Kids Count) and are experiencing abuse and trauma at triple the national average.

Our Impact

How You Can Help

There is no single source of funding for CACs, and we receive an average of 50 percent of our funding from private donors. In order to sustain the Kids-TALK CAC it is imperative that we receive financial support from individuals and organizations. To make a contribution to the Kids-TALK Children’s Advocacy Center please contact Alexander Sebastian at 734-785-7727 or asebastian@guidance-center.org. Or download our wish list to see what supplies our CACs would benefit greatly from.

Kids-TALK CAC in the News

• • Last Minute, Surprise $6.5 Million Reduction Affects Michigan’s Youngest Crime Victims
  • Babysitter accused of sexually assaulting 5-year-old in Macomb County
  • FOX2 | How police catch child p*** creeps – and the support available for the victims
  • Michigan Chronicle | Healing Comes First After Witnessing Violence Against Children
  • WXYZ Detroit | LARA suspends license for home daycare in Canton
  • WXYZ Detroit | Child Abuse Prevention Month
  • Ballmer Group Donates to Kids-TALK CAC

   

  Resources and Education

  “Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being”. (SAMHSA, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

  Child Sexual Abuse Fact Sheet (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)

  Child Physical Abuse Fact Sheet (NCTSN)

  Children and Domestic Violence(NCTSN)

  Common Trauma Reactions

  Resources for parents and caregivers of children who have experienced trauma

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  Wayne County Child Abuse and Neglect Protocol

  Please click link for updated Wayne County Case Management Protocol for Child Abuse and Neglect. This Protocol was first developed in 1991 due a recognized need that child victims of abuse and neglect required a different intervention approach than adults and a need for greater coordination of services from involved agencies. It serves as a road map for all of the disciplines that are involved in allegations of child abuse and neglect in Wayne County and provides a helpful reference of roles and responsibilities.

  Contact Us

  Kids-TALK Children’s Advocacy Center
  40 East Ferry Street
  Detroit MI 48202
  313-833-2970

   

  The Guidance Center
  Building 7
  19275 Northline
  Southgate, MI 48195
  734-785-7716

   

  Email the Kids-TALK CAC at kidstalkcac@guidance-center.org.