Childrens Advocacy Center

Program 2 - vegas heals in response to the urgent need for mental health services for disadvantaged children and families, the cacf created the vegas heals program. This program ensures that child victims and their families receive the continuum of care necessary to heal from child abuse trauma and achieve equitable outcomes. Vegas heals provides access to both individual and support group therapy sessions to victims who cannot afford services and helps siblings and non-offending parents who experience trauma-related symptoms of their own. The primary objective of vegas heals is to minimize the devastating effects of child sexual abuse by empowering participants with the coping skills necessary to move forward and the knowledge to prevent further abuse. When a disclosure is made, the entire family unit is affected, including siblings who witnessed the abuse, the non-offending parent who needs support to maintain a safe environment, and other primary caretakers who need psychoeducation to adequately support the child victim. Traumainformed therapy recognizes and addresses the needs of both the primary victim and secondary victims siblings and nonoffending parents. Vegas heals allows victims and families to complete their treatment without the added stress of incurring expenses that, whether for lack of available resources or health insurance, they are unable to pay.

Program 3 - camp thrive las vegas in its ongoing pursuit to support survivors of child sexual abuse, the cacf launched camp thrive las vegas in june 2024. To be held each summer, this unique camp experience combines traditional camp activities with group therapy sessions tailored to children who have survived sexual abuse, ages 10 to 14. The camp aims to provide a safe and nurturing environment for healing and growth. At camp thrive las vegas, a variety of activities to challenge participants are utilized to achieve the following objectives: 1. Increase and practice healthy boundaries with same-age peers and adults. 2. Increase the ability for participants to self-advocate with peers and adults in various settings (indoor/outdoor activities, group therapy, mealtime, and when sharing living space). 3. Increase and practice age-appropriate social skills and cues with peers and adults in a safe environment. 4. Practice healthy coping skills in various settings. 5. Learn to challenge themselves and overcome fear. 6. Increase willingness to rely on others for support and problem-solving.