Child Abuse Awareness

Champions for Children

Every day, nearly four children in this country die as a result of child abuse in the home.
Every day, more than 27,000 children in this country are exposed to domestic violence.
Every day, a child somewhere in your community lives in fear.

Learn the 10 signs of child abuse.

The Champions for Children Committee was created and is chaired by Malaak Compton-Rock and is dedicated to protecting children and restoring hope. Fueled by the 2006 Nixmary Brown child abuse case in Brooklyn, NY, Malaak immediately gathered some of the most prominent figures from the entertainment, sports, philanthropic, non-profit, and business communities to lend their support and raise their voices to promote the signs and prevention of child abuse. Proud members include Colin Cowie and Stuart Brownstein, Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann, Iman, Tonya and Spike Lee, Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete, LA and Erica Reid, Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin, Yoko Ono, Star Jones-Reynolds, Kelly Ripa, Malaak and Chris Rock, Susan Sarandon, Patricia and Emmitt Smith, Bob and Lee Woodruff, and Marian Wight Edelman among others. Please click here for a complete listing of Champions for Children committee members.

In 2007, with the assistance of Safe Horizon, the group received national exposure in magazines including People, Redbook, Essence and O, The Oprah Magazine, as well as radio exposure through a series of PSA's heard on Clear Channel stations nationwide resulting in 28 million pro bono media impressions. The committee has continued to advocate on behalf of this cause with a new public awareness campaign for 2008 that was shot by legendary photographer Timothy White and coordinated by Malaak Compton-Rock.

The campaign appeared in the April issue (child abuse awareness month) of Redbook Magazine which premiered on March 18, 2008. This evergreen new campaign will continue to be distributed to a wide array of media outlets. Currently there are Champions for Children billboards up in Los Angeles, New York, and New Jersey and 38 elevator ads running nationwide. We are honored that Timothy White shot Colin Cowie and Stuart Brownstein, chef Rocco Dispirito with his mother, Marian Wright Edelman, Emme, Linda Fairstein, Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann, Iman, Liz Lange, Stephanie March, LA and Erica Reid, Star Jones-Reynolds, Malaak and Chris Rock, Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, Reverend Run and the entire Simmons Family (MTV's Run's House), Deleon Sheffield, Veronica Webb, and Lee Woodruff. Redbook Magazine not only features a selection of our photos, but critical information on child abuse awareness. To see all of the photos from The Champions for Children 2008 public awareness campaign, please click here.

On March 17, 2008, model/writer Veronica Webb and Redbook Editor-in-Chief, Stacy Morrison joined fellow Champions for Children Committee member Al Roker on The Today Show to promote the Committee's latest comprehensive efforts to raise public awareness about child abuse on a national level. View the video.

To view video from the photo shoots and to hear the Champion for Children members take a stand on the issue, click here. For information on Timothy White Photography, please go to www.timothywhite.com.

Governor Patterson signs Nixmary's Law on Friday, October 9, making life without parole the maximum sentence for killing a child in an "especially cruel and wanton manor." Click here to read more.

Please take a stand and learn
the 10 signs of child abuse.

Help a child who is going through a difficult time or traumatic experience.
Learn the signs of trauma.

To view outdoor advertising from the 2008 Champions for Children Campaign, please click here.

National Children's Alliance

National Children's Alliance is a nationwide not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to promote and support communities in providing a coordinated investigation and comprehensive response to victims of severe child abuse. NCA is a membership organization providing services to Children's Advocacy Centers, multidisciplinary teams, and professionals across the country.

Children's Advocacy Centers offer a new way of serving abused children through a comprehensive approach to services for victims and their families. These programs are designed by professionals and volunteers responding to the needs of their own communities. Children's Advocacy Centers stress coordination of investigation and intervention services by bringing together professionals and agencies as a multidisciplinary team to create a child-focused approach to child abuse cases. The goal is to ensure that children are not revictimized by the very system designed to protect them.

Mission Statement:

National Children's Alliance is a nationwide not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to promote and support communities in providing a coordinated investigation and comprehensive response to victims of severe child abuse. NCA accredited members are Children's Advocacy Centers.

Children Advocacy Center's Definition:

Children's Advocacy Centers are community-based facilities providing a winning solution to caring for victims of severe child abuse.

What makes the Children's Advocacy Center model so effective is a unique multi-disciplinary community response to severe child abuse by enabling law enforcement, prosecutors, child protective services, and the medical and mental health professions to work together as a collaborative team to investigate and prosecute cases of child sexual abuse. As a result, CAC programs work to minimize trauma, break the cycle of abuse and provide communities with an added bonus: increased prosecution rates for perpetrators.
By recognizing the special needs of children, CAC programs work to minimize trauma, break the cycle of abuse and provide communities with an added bonus: increased prosecution rates for perpetrators.
National Children's Alliance (NCA) is a 501C (3) non-profit organization that promotes and supports communities in providing a coordinated investigation and comprehensive response to child victims of abuse. NCA provides national accreditation to Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs), community-based facilities providing a best practice solution to caring for victims of severe child abuse.
Children's Advocacy Centers are community partnerships dedicated to a coordinated team approach by professionals pursuing the truth in child abuse investigations. By bring together professionals from law enforcement, criminal justice, child protective services, victim advocacy agencies and the medical and mental health communities, CACs provide comprehensive services for child victims and their families.
Children's Advocacy Centers aren't focused on suffering, they are focused on solutions.
For 20 years, the Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) model has been a beacon of hope for abused children throughout the nation, providing comprehensive services in one community-based facility. Necessary medical, emotional, legal, investigative, and victim advocacy services exist in one child friendly location - ensuring that children are not further victimized by the systems intended to protect them.

Why it is Important for an Abused Child to be Taken to a Child Advocacy Center:

Child Advocacy Centers are child-friendly, safe spaces that help children feel at ease after they have been abused. In helping children move through their recovery process, it is vital that they are sent a message that the adults around them believe their stories and that they have the support of their parents and/or caregivers. At the CACs, child protective caseworkers, police detectives, pediatricians, prosecutors, victim advocates, and mental health professionals work as a team to collect evidence, minimize the number of times the child is interviewed, and ensure that the child receives appropriate medical examinations and mental health support and that a coordinated investigation begins immediately and makes every effort to ensure that there is no further abuse.

A Listing of Children Advocacy Center's Nationwide:

Please click here for a listing of Child Advocacy Centers Nationwide.

National Children's Alliance Standards for Accredited Members:

For program components that are necessary for accredited membership in National Children's Alliance, please click here

For more information on the National Children's Alliance, please click here.

For Information on Other Respected Child Welfare, Child Abuse, and Child Mental Health Organizations, Please Visit:

The Children's Defense Fund

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a non-profit child advocacy organization that has worked relentlessly for 35 years to ensure a level playing field for all children. The organization champions policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education, and a moral and spiritual foundation. Supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations, CDF advocates nationwide on behalf of children to ensure children are always a priority. The Children's Defense Fund's Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

View a video of civil rights leader Marian Wright Edelman talking about the needs of poor children in the country from CNN.

The Children's Defense Fund - What is Child Welfare?

Child welfare refers to services and supports designed to promote the well-being of children by ensuring them safe, permanent and strong families. Children may come to the attention of the child welfare system because of: abuse and neglect, parental substance abuse, unmet mental health needs, and domestic violence.

The CDF® Child Welfare and Mental Health Division

The CDF Child Welfare and Mental Health Division works to give every child a Safe Start in a permanent nurturing family and community.

The CDF Child Welfare and Mental Health Division promote programs and policies that:

Strengthen and support children and families
Prevent crises in families
Help to promote safe, permanent families for children

The Child Welfare and Mental Health Division also promote federal policies that support the capacity of states and communities to provide the comprehensive supports children and families need, including:

Prevention and early intervention
Crisis services
Quality foster care
Specialized treatment for children and families
Post-adoption and other post-permanency services

This is done while also ensuring essential crucial protections and accountability for children. For more information, please visit www.childrensdefense.org.

Safe Horizon

Safe Horizon is one of the nation's leading victim's assistance organization. Serving 300,000 people per year, Safe Horizon aids victims of domestic violence, child abuse, rape, sexual assault, stalking, and teen runaways. The organization runs an emergency hotline service, domestic violence shelters, child advocacy centers, a Streetworks program for homeless teens, counseling centers, court-based programs, and school-based anti-violence programs. For more information, please visit www.safehorizon.org.