Multi-Disciplinary Team Coordination

The core of any Child Advocacy Center (CAC) is the multi-disciplinary team (MDT). At Wynona’s House the multi-disciplinary team includes the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (PCP&P), the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office (ECPO), the Newark Beth Israel Center’s Metro Regional Diagnostic Treatment Center (RDTC), the Newark Police Department, and is facilitated by the nonprofit Intake and MDT Coordinators.

This team consists of social workers, law enforcement officials, detectives, district attorneys, medical and mental health providers, victim advocates and Wynona’s House nonprofit staff. Team members provide technical assistance and advice to each other both through formal means, such as case review meetings, and informal conversations to support service delivery and one another as professionals. This heightened communication improves outcomes for each agency, and most importantly for the children, ensuring that important aspects of treatment are not missed.

CAC services include Medical and Mental Health Evaluations and Therapeutic Services. Children who may be victims of abuse need medical attention from personnel with specialized skills and the ability to provide appropriate care. Two board-certified child abuse pediatricians and two nurses work onsite. 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 lifetimes. We are able to offer evidence-based trauma assessments and specialized trauma-informed mental health services for child victims and non-offending family members that will both reduce the impacts of trauma and the risk of future abuse.