Our goal is really quite simple – to protect and uphold the rights of children when wrongs have been committed against them, to help abused or neglected children have safe permanent homes where they can thrive, to act as a powerful voice in these children’s best interests and to educate the public about the plight of abused children.
What We Do
Advocacy Network for Children has two distinct programs. The Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) program and the Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) program. The CAC program provides a safe, neutral, child-friendly environment where a child victim of sexual abuse or serious physical abuse and their non-offending family meet with the members of a multidisciplinary team of professions for the purpose of investigation. CAC staff provides advocacy services and bridges the gap between social services, law enforcement, and the court system. CASA recruits, trains, and supervises volunteers who speak in the best interest of abused or neglected children in the court system.
Brief History
Advocacy Network for Children is a nonprofit organization established in 1990 as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Adams County. Initially, the agency focused on recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children in the court system.
As its mission expanded to serve abused children in the community, the agency opened the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) in Adams County in 1999 and the CAC in Pike County in 2002. In 2002, the agency was renamed Children’s Action Network to better reflect its broad range of services. Further growth included the Tri-County CAC serving Brown, Cass, and Schuyler Counties, and Hancock County CAC in 2004; Scott County CAC in 2005; Morgan County CAC in 2006; and McDonough County CAC in 2007. We are the largest CAC in Illinois, serving child victims of abuse and their non-offending families across nine counties in the west-central region between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.
In March 2008, the agency adopted its current name, Advocacy Network for Children, to emphasize its mission of advocacy and comprehensive support for children and families.
In 2015, the agency launched the Prevention Program, “P.S. It’s My Body/Happy Bear,” a research-based curriculum teaching children safety strategies to reduce their risk of abuse.
In March 2018, CASA services expanded to Pike, Hancock, and Morgan Counties, followed by Brown, Cass, and Schuyler Counties in September 2019. In late 2024, Mason, Menard and Scott Counties were added.
Our Children’s Advocacy Centers are accredited through the National Children’s Alliance, and our Court Appointed Special Advocates are accredited through National CASA Association.
