CACs Offers Wraparound Care for Abused Children

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

The trauma caused by child abuse and neglect doesn’t end with the incident. These crimes also inflict harm as children must recount what happened again and again. This is one reason that the Child Advocacy Centers in Onondaga and Oswego counties provides wraparound, comprehensive care. The CACs are based on a national model.

Carol Gazitano, licensed marriage and family therapist and deputy director of Child Advocacy Center of Oswego County in Fulton, explained that creating an organization that offers a complete array of services under one roof prevents children and their families from “being shuffled around and retelling the story to several people,” she said. “We try to reduce the traumatizing of retelling.”

CAC of Oswego County offers a forensic interview, medical exam, acute mental health counseling, referrals for needs such as food, housing and safety, and continued support throughout the immediate recovery and legal and court process.

The mental health services include helping children learn skills that can help them through times when triggers rise up.

“They can use these in real time,” Gazitano said. “If they’re at school,