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Children's advocacy centers push to be codified in Massachusetts law
Summary
The Massachusetts Children's Alliance and local CAC directors urged the committee to pass S.112/H.233 to enshrine children's advocacy centers in state statute, calling the CAC model the trauma-informed, multidisciplinary standard for responding to child sexual abuse and trafficking.
Representatives of the Massachusetts Children's Alliance, local children's advocacy centers (CACs), and a county district attorney told the committee the CAC model is the evidence-based, trauma-informed standard for responding to child sexual abuse and trafficking, and that the model should be codified in state law.
"Children's advocacy centers or CACs provide a trauma informed multidisciplinary response to allegations of child sexual abuse and trafficking," Tom King, executive director of the Massachusetts Children's Alliance, said in support of S.112 and H.233. He told the committee CACs served 6,709 children in 2024 and that the model is nationally accredited.
Lara Stone, co-executive director of the CAC of Bristol County, described the core functions: a single, trained forensic interviewer, a child-friendly setting, recorded interviews and coordinated access to medical and mental-health care, law enforcement, and child-protective services. She and DA Marian Ryan said the model reduces repeated interviews, improves disclosure quality, and can avoid putting child witnesses on the stand.
Witnesses noted Massachusetts is one of four states that does not yet enshrine CACs in statute and argued that codification would protect the model through changes in administration and prosecutorial practice. They urged a favorable report to ensure sustained funding, statewide coordination, and legal recognition of CACs as the standard response.
No opponents testified at the hearing and several testifiers asked the committee to adopt enabling language that recognizes the Massachusetts Children's Alliance as the coordinating body for the 12 CACs in the state.
