National Children’s Alliance | 2020 National Crime Victims' Service Awards Tribute Video

KIMBERLY DAY: If you've been abused, then you should be able to go to a place where we know the best kind of care that you can possibly get, you will get. 

TERESA HUIZAR: National Children's Alliance is the membership organization and accrediting body for more than 900 Children's Advocacy Centers in the U.S. Those centers served more than 371,000 children last year. 

INTERVIEWER: You're nine? Okay, so do you live in a house... 

TERESA HUIZAR: Children's Advocacy Centers really started as a response to child sexual abuse. 

INTERVIEWER: So, what do you call this body part? 

GIRL: Belly button. 

INTERVIEWER: This is the belly button. 

TERESA HUIZAR: We are now responding to physical abuse, domestic violence, and to kids who've witnessed community violence. 

BOY: Chips and brownies. 

TERESA HUIZAR: Think about it like a one-stop shop of expert care, a coordinated multidisciplinary team that is organized around the child and the child's needs. 

WOMAN: Alright. Was there a disclosure during the interview? 

KIMBERLY DAY: The Thriving Kids' Initiative was really a shift in the focus at NCA from prosecution to looking at how children can heal. 

THERAPIST: I am so glad to see you again. How are you? 

TERESA HUIZAR: And we looked at mental health practice within Children's Advocacy Centers, and we thought we can do better. 

THERAPIST: How about this one? 

BOY: Mad. 

THERAPIST: Mad. 

BOY: Scared. THERAPIST: Scared. KIMBERLY DAY: When we required Children's Advocacy Centers to provide access for children to mental health services that were evidence-based, that really changed the game. 

THERAPIST: What are some things that make you mad? 

TERESA HUIZAR: What we did was really point all of the resources of the organization in that direction, to make sure that kids are having their trauma symptoms assessed, that they're receiving evidence-based treatments, and that all the children who need access to those services have them, not just some. If we intervene appropriately, kids can heal from abuse and go on to live lives in which they thrive. There's hope. 

GROUP: In five, four, three, two, one.