CARIBOU CHILD & YOUTH PROGRAM
Building Safe & Caring Communities Through Support & Education
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Established in 2012, the Caribou Child & Youth Centre is one of only three child and youth advocacy centres in the province of Alberta. The Caribou Centre is a comprehensive multidisciplinary team that consists of:
- RCMP
- Child Family Services
- Pace
- Victim Services
- Crown Prosecution
Working together, the team uses a collaborative approach to minimize stress, anxiety, and trauma to the child witness, while working to promote safety, protection, and justice. Intervention and treatment in child abuse cases is strengthened when agencies work toward common goals, which include support services for the child, and holding offenders accountable.
The Caribou Centre was designed to provide a safe and comfortable environment for children in order to reduce stress, trauma, and when disclosing abuse. The Centre seeks to provide children and their families with a single point of contact to assist them throughout the process; from initial disclosure, through investigation, court proceedings, and any ongoing support or therapeutic treatment that is needed to ensure that children are not re-victimized by the systems that are meant to protect them.
The Caribou Child and Youth Centre provides a welcoming venue for the RCMP and Children’s Services to conduct their interviews. The Centre also provides the following services; audio-video recordings of the interviews (to be used for court proceedings,) crisis intervention, support and counselling to child victims and non-offending family members, supervision of children while at the Centre, court preparation and accompaniment, access to therapy, advocacy, and referrals.
The name of the Caribou Child and Youth Centre was chosen to reflect the level of caring and protection that the adult caribou provide to their young, and more vulnerable members of their herd. The Caribou demonstrate endurance, strength, fortitude, and perseverance in going the distance. They also possess the power of adaptability in adversity, caution in surroundings, and tenacity to get things accomplished. The Caribou show us how to keep moving onward and flowing with the herd. Most importantly, the Caribou is about movement and finding peace as you walk through life.
In Alberta, you are required to report allegations of child abuse directly to children’s services or the police. To report call Children’s Services at 780-538- 5102 or the RCMP at 780-830-5701.
PROGRAM DETAILS
Referrals for forensic interviews involving children and youth under 18 years of age can only be made by the RCMP or Children’s Services
Program Sponsors
- The Government of Alberta
- The Department of the Solicitor General
Program Costs
There are no fees for clients referred to this program.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
Helen Keller