North Central Missouri Children's Advocacy Center

Due to Covid-19, The North Central Missouri Children's Advocacy Center is now offering the option of telehealth appointments to all new and existing patients.

When you schedule a Telehealth appointment, you will receive an email with a link that allows you access to our Telehealth waiting room on the date and time of the appointment. If you have scheduled a Telehealth appointment and have not received the email with the link, please call the office at (660) 359-2874.

Important Tips For Telehealth Patients:               

• Use Wi-Fi or a wired high speed internet connection whenever possible. Avoid using cellular data for your appointment.

• Stay in one place during the appointment. Moving around can disrupt the connection.

• Arrange to be in a quiet, private space, like an office or bedroom during your appointment. You don’t want your private information broadcast for others to hear, and noisy, disruptive locations will prevent you from getting the most from your appointment.

• DO NOT attend your appointment while driving! Doing so is ineffective, inappropriate, and likely illegal.

• Please treat your TeleHealth appointment as you would an in-office visit. Set aside the time for the appointment. TeleHealth appointments are not an opportunity to multitask by cooking dinner or running on the treadmill during your appointment.

The past three-plus months have presented a steep learning curve for professional counselors, especially with the pandemic causing disruptions and difficulties with something at the heart of their work: connecting with people. Many counselors in clinical settings responded to these new realities by ceasing in-person interactions and quickly getting up to speed to offer client sessions via telebehavioral health. Many of these professionals navigated a similar scramble to that of their clinical counseling colleagues, having to adopt and use new technologies so they could continue supporting children online. Despite the widely reported rise in mental health concerns connected to or intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, some counselors are facing income loss because of a decrease in clients. That’s due in part to many clients experiencing financial struggles of their own, including loss of insurance.

To minimize the risk of infection, our counselor, has been sanitizing her office and waiting room after every client, washing her hands regularly, and opening the door for each client so they don’t have to touch the doorknob. She has also posted a sign on her office door asking that people who are sick or have a fever not enter. 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic we were billing insurance for the counseling session regardless for those who had or hadn't had a forensic interview along with providing a sliding scale for those without insurance. This remains the same as we strive to continue providing mental health services at as little to no out of pocket cost to the families we serve. We understand that some families are not comfortable being out and about as of yet, in light of this we are offering both telebehavioral health as well as in person visits. 

For more information about our mental health services please feel free to call our office during office hours and speak with Amanda White.  #Essential4Kids

Child abuse awareness, education,  and prevention programs are a vital component to a healthy and safe community for our children. The North Central Missouri Children’s Advocacy Center (NCMCAC) recognizes that to protect children from abuse, prevention services must address individuals, families and the community.

Prevention programs offered by the NCMCAC have the ability to reach nearly 8,500 people in our service area. These programs offer a range of services to parents, children, schools and a variety of individuals and organizations throughout our communities. We all want to have a safe, healthy and happy community.

We CAN protect our children, take steps to help prevent abuse and build a strong and prosperous future for our community. It’s possible and it’s happening. The NCMCAC is working hard to be a voice for children and YOU can, too.

Check out the Programs we can present to your group or community by clicking our Prevention tab under Categories. For more information, or to find out how to have a program brought to your community, please contact us at (660) 359-2874.

Conducting Forensic Interviews is the primary service offered by NCMCAC. The interview is typically the cornerstone of a child abuse investigation. Forensic interviews are conducted in a child-friendly environment by specially trained Forensic Interviewers that have received no less than 40 hours of a nationally or state recognized forensic interview training that includes child development and peer review. The interview is culturally sensitive, legally sound, non-leading, unbiased and supported by research, which includes peer review. It seeks to gather information from a child about abuse they may have experienced, allowing for the competence of the child, using the child’s own words. It also aims to reduce trauma for the child, maximize information obtained, maintain the integrity of the investigation, and minimize the contaminating effects of the interview. The Forensic Interviewer may then provide expert testimony within a judicial setting if necessary concerning the interview and the child’s statements.

All referrals for a Forensic Interview must come from a Law Enforcement agency, Children’s Division, or the Juvenile Office.

Children and families in crisis need assistance in navigating through the systems’ response to a report of child abuse. Research has shown that a child believed and supported after having made a disclosure of abuse is more likely to be resilient in processing their trauma, brave enough to endure a judicial process, as well as remain firm in their testimony. The NCMCAC provides advocacy and support for the child and family to assist in trauma reduction and improve overall outcomes. Up-to-date information and ongoing support is critical to a child and family’s comfort and ability to participate in intervention and treatment. Our victim advocacy services also includes court accompaniment, crisis intervention, education on the dynamics of abuse, case coordination, case review facilitation with identified MDT, and therapeutic treatment broker, as well as acts as a referral resource for other services within the community. Services are available from case initiation until case disposition, or the family decides advocacy is not longer needed.

Without effective therapeutic intervention, many traumatized children will suffer ongoing or long term adverse social, emotional, and developmental outcomes that may impact them throughout their lifetime. Specialized trauma-focused mental health services are made available for every child receiving a forensic interview. The treatment process engages the non-offending caretaker, includes trauma-specific assessment with full trauma history, and the use of standardized assessment tools to gauge progress. While the forensic interview is separate from mental health treatment, our counselor attends and participates in the Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT) response during case reviews, so that a child’s treatment needs can be assessed and the child’s mental health can be monitored and taken into account as the MDT makes decisions about the case.

Often called a SAFE-CARE exam, these exams are conducted by medical providers specifically trained to conduct evaluations of child sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect. These exams are conducted both in urgent and non-urgent circumstances as deemed necessary based upon information obtained during an investigation. NCMCAC refers these exams to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, MO, to be conducted by experts in the field of child abuse. Members of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) will work together to ensure that children receive the necessary medical services, evaluations and treatment as determined by information obtained through the investigative process on a case by case and child by child basis.

For more information regarding the SCAN clinic use the following link: Safety, Care & Nurturing (SCAN) | Children's Mercy Kansas City

For a map to the SCAN Clinic please use this link: Children's Mercy Adele Hall | Children's Mercy Kansas City

Every case presented to the North Central Missouri Children’s Advocacy (NCMCAC) is reviewed by the Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT), where collaborative decisions about the case are made.  NCMCAC tracks each case from initiation until disposition to monitor its progress.  Case tracking also assists in program evaluation and generating statistical reports for grant writing and reporting purposes.