The Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers

The Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers (FNCAC) is an accredited State Chapter of the National Children's Alliance,  and is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization of child advocacy center programs in Florida. 

The Mission of the FNCAC is to improve Florida's response to child abuse by supporting the development, growth, and continuation of CAC's.

In 1978, Florida's Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services recognized the need for specialized child-friendly services to assist in child abuse and neglect investigations, and developed Child Protection Teams under the auspices of Children’s Medical Services. The teams were developed to provide medically directed, multidisciplinary assessments to assist in the identification of maltreatment and the assessment of risk. 

In 1985, the National Children's Advocacy Center movement began and soon the concept of advocacy centers emerged in Florida. These centers provided child-friendly settings where investigations could occur and where treatment and prosecution plans could be designed. They also became sites for development of preventive strategies to reduce incidence of child abuse. 

The first Children's Advocacy Center in Florida opened in 1994, in Daytona Beach, serving Volusia and Flagler Counties. The Florida Network of Children's Advocacy Centers was formed in 1996 and  represents all the local children's advocacy centers (CACs) in Florida.  The FNCAC's membership has grown from the original six local centers to 24 CAC's and 2 developing centers, serving 85% of the children and families throughout Florida.   

The primary functions of the FNCAC are to provide specialized training, technical assistance and other support servcies  for CAC’s and communities interested in starting CAC’s; to advocate for CAC’s at the state and national levels; and to provide oversight and administration of state funds to local CAC’s.