Incorporated in 1976, the Danbury Regional Child Advocacy Center is a private, non-profit child abuse prevention agency, providing timely and effective services which help high risk parents increase skills and knowledge necessary to prevent out-of-home placement of their children. The Family Enrichment Service/Parent Aide program provides weekly, one-to-one, in home services by trained paraprofessionals. The Child Protection Team develops and implements coordinated services for individual families. Multi-disciplinary Investiga-tion Teams (MIT) convene to improve the investigation, intervention and prosecution  of child sexual abuse and serious physical abuse and neglect while  minimizing secondary trauma to the child. The MIT After-Care Clinic (ACC) provides short-term, focused therapy to reduce trauma and restore stability for families engaged in the MIT process. The COPES (Communication of Parent Effectiveness Skills) Program provides education and support through weekly Parent/Infant/Toddler groups and by responding to increasing numbers of requests for presentations to groups and in-service training for professionals about child abuse. Evening Parent Net classes provide information and parenting skills in collaboration with Danbury schools, courts and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families.  The Volunteer Mentor Program provides role models, support, advocacy and reinforcement of previous learning for families no longer receiving intensive services. Mentors are matched for weekly contact with parents at risk.  Grandparents as Parents Support Groups (GAPS) meet weekly with trained and supervised co-facilitators to provide information, support and advocacy.

Family Enrichment Service/Parent AideProgram
Weekly, one-to-one, in-home parent education and support provided by trained paraprofessionals.

Teams
• Child Protection Teams develop and implement coordinated services for families
• Multi-disciplinary Investigation Teams (MIT) convene to improve the investigation, intervention and prosecution of child sexual abuse and serious physical abuse and neglect while minimizing secondary trauma to the child.              
• MIT After-Care Clinic (ACC) provides clinical after-care through focused, short-term therapy to stabilize MIT families traumatized by the disclosure of child sexual abuse.

Volunteer Mentor Program
• One-to one parent mentors serve as role models, providing support, advocacy and reinforcement of previous learning for families no longer receiving intensive services. 
• Grandparents as Parents Support Groups meet weekly with trained and supervised co-facilitators to provide information, support and advocacy.

 Parent Education and Support Groups

C O P E S
Communication of Parent Effectiveness Skills: provides education and support through weekly Parent/Infant/Toddler groups, offered in English and in Spanish

ParentNet
Evening and weekend classes in English, Spanish, and Portuguese provide parenting information and skills in collaboration with courts, DCF, and community stakeholders.

All Danbury Regional Child Advocacy Center programs are free and child care is provided upon request.  Collaboration with other local and state agencies is critical to the success of these programs. The income of 85% of families in the Danbury Regional Child Advocacy Center programs is below the federal poverty level.  In fiscal year 2008-2009 Parent Aide/Family Enrichment Specialists helped 507 clients in 133 families.  Teams assisted 196 clients in 98 families.  Groups provided education and support for 289 clients in 138 families and Volunteer Mentors and Grandparents groups helped 86 clients in 31 families.  

The Danbury Regional Child Advocacy Center serves the towns of Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, Kent, New Fairfield, New  Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Sherman, Warren and Washington.