Concord, NH - Attorney General Kelly Ayotte has appointed a statewide board to oversee and support New Hampshire’s eight established and two developing Child Advocacy Centers (CACs). Funded in part through the Victims Assistance Fund, Child Advocacy Centers are community-based facilities that provide a child-friendly environment for conducting child abuse investigations and coordination of services for child victims and their non-offending family members.

Members of the Attorney General’s Child Advocacy Center Advisory Board include several state Commissioners, agency heads and directors of non-profits involved in family violence prevention (a list is attached).

In 2007, New Hampshire Child Advocacy Centers provided services to more than 1,375 children. Ninety percent of these children had a presenting allegation of child sexual abuse, the majority under 10 years of age.

In communities with a Child Advocacy Center, law enforcement, the Division for Children, Youth and Families, the County Attorney’s Office, victim advocate services and medical and mental health professionals sign a shared services agreement in which all parties self mandate a team approach to child abuse investigations and subsequent service delivery.

New Hampshire currently has eight Child Advocacy Centers:

• Child Advocacy Center of Rockingham County with offices in Portsmouth and Derry -- Contact: Maureen Sullivan 603-422-8240
• Hillsborough County Child Advocacy Center with CACs in both Nashua and Manchester -- Contact: Kristie Palestino 603-889-0321
• Greater Lakes Child Advocacy Center in Laconia -- Contact: Meghan Howe 603-524-5497
• Child Advocacy Center of Grafton and Sullivan Counties at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center with offices in Lebanon and Newport -- Contact: Cathy Brittis 603-653-9012
• Strafford County Child Advocacy Center in Dover -- Contact: Amy Barham 603-516-8100
• Carroll County Child Advocacy Center in Wolfeboro -- Contact: Katie Watkins 603-569-9840
• Monadnock Region Child Advocacy Center in Keene -- Contact: Atonya Hart 603-352-0413

Child Advocacy Center Advisory Board Members