The chadwick center for children and families at rady children's hospital SAN diego (chadwick center for children and families) will implement the western regional childrens advocacy center project

The Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded Rady Children's Hospital San Diego $1.175 million through Cooperative Agreement 15PJDP25GK01849JJVO under the Improving the Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse and the Regional and Local Children's Advocacy Centers program (CFDA 16.758), effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026.

The Chadwick Center for Children and Families will implement the Western Regional Children's Advocacy Center Project, delivering coordinated training and technical assistance to multidisciplinary teams (law enforcement, child welfare, treatment providers, advocates), children's advocacy centers, and state chapters across 13 western states. Deliverables include high-quality training and technical assistance designed to meet or exceed National Children's Alliance accreditation standards, with focus on victim advocates, multidisciplinary team facilitators, children's advocacy center leaders, and mental health clinicians. The center will expand access to evidence-informed mental health care in rural and frontier communities through telemental health and coordinated approaches, strengthen state chapter leadership and capacity, and coordinate with other Victims of Child Abuse Act grantees on joint initiatives that enhance national efforts to advance child abuse investigation, prosecution, and victim services.

Performance occurs at San Diego, California.

The center serves multidisciplinary team professionals (law enforcement, child welfare, treatment providers, advocates), childrens advocacy centers, and state chapters across 13 western states. The center provides coordinated delivery of training and technical assistance designed to develop and strengthen multidisciplinary team investigations, prosecution, and services that support child victims of abuse and neglect and their families. The center provides consultation, education, resource development, and peer learning activities aligned with the program goals. The chadwick center will also collaborate with other victims of child abuse act grantees to implement joint initiatives that enhance national efforts. The western regional childrens advocacy center will advance the following goals: deliver high-quality training and technical assistance to multidisciplinary teams and childrens advocacy center professionals to meet or exceed national childrens alliance accreditation standards, with a focus on victim advocates, multidisciplinary team facilitators, childrens advocacy center leaders, and mental health clinicians; expand access to evidence-informed mental health care in rural and frontier communities through telemental health and coordinated approaches; strengthen state chapter leadership and capacity to improve outcomes for child abuse victims and families; and identify priority areas and leverage collective resources that result in maximum system transformation and impact (with a focus on sharing information, coordinating strategies, and implementing the victims of child abuse act national plan and coordinated joint plan for training and technical assistance delivery).