The CAC team strives to avoid re-traumatizing children with repeated interviews about their abuse. Instead, one specially trained interviewer will talk to the child. The goal is to get the truth when the child is ready to talk. The interviewer doesn't ask leading or unnecessary questions.

Among the nearly 900 interviews conducted since the Yellowstone CAC was first accredited in 2014, 21% were with children age six or younger, 47% were ages 7-12 and 32% were ages 13-18.

"It's a trauma-informed approach designed to start the healing process for the child," said Doug Andersen, RiverStone program manager. A former child protection caseworker, Andersen recalled that child interviews used to be conducted in a janitor's closet at a CPS office. Lit by a big window along the ceiling, the carpeted CAC interview room is furnished with two large, gray overstuffed chairs, a kid-sized table and two tiny chairs small enough for preschoolers, yet strong enough to hold an adult interviewer. Interviews are monitored by law enforcement investigators and recorded.

CAC coordinator Nichole Lund is trained to conduct forensic interviews of child sexual abuse victims. Local law enforcement agencies also have specially trained forensic interviewers. Only these professionals, who are constantly updating their training, conduct child interviews at the CAC.

County Attorney Scott Twito led the effort to establish this CAC in 2012, allocated funds from his office budget and kept the CAC going even after its first host agency closed two years ago. Present funding for the CAC is cobbled together from federal grant money allocated by the Montana Board of Crime Control, county health levy funding allocated by RiverStone and money from the Yellowstone County attorney budget.

"The whole idea of the CAC is to get the information you need to do your job," Twito explained. "The way that the interview is conducted by a trained interviewer, it is less likely to be attacked by the defense. With the advent of the CAC, we catch a lot more of these crimes."

The CAC relocated to RiverStone 14 months ago and has conducted 166 child interviews since then, including some done at the request of authorities in neighboring counties.

"Partnering with RiverStone is a great opportunity down the line to provide complete wraparound services," Twito said. For now, Lund and CAC advocate Kathy Johnson work with the children's caregivers to refer them to needed services and specially trained counselors in the community. Twito's vision is for the children to have counseling and followup health checks through RiverStone.

The Yellowstone Valley CAC recently achieved re-accreditation from the National Children's Alliance. It is one of seven nationally accredited CACs in Montana. In the eastern half of the state, Big Horn, Custer, Dawson, Fergus, Gallatin, Park, Richland, Stillwater and Valley counties have CACs that aren't accredited. 

Why get accredited?

"It holds you to a set of standards; it give us access to training from the National Children's Alliance," said Lund. The CAC is focused on victims, recognizing that children who have been abused are at risk for future abuse.

Prosecution of child sexual abuse cases is in the news in Billings, in Montana and nationwide all too often, reminding concerned adults that more must be done to prevent such attacks. The situation is even worse when the child victims don't get help, the abuse continues and their suffering lasts a lifetime. The results include lawsuits filed against Catholic dioceses for abuse suffered decades ago by Native American children; men suing the Boy Scouts of America alleging they were molested as children by scout leaders; and the shocking case of the former Custer County High School athletic trainer who sexually assaulted dozens of student athletes 20-40 years ago. There weren't Child Advocacy Centers back then.

The CACs we have today raise awareness that child sexual abuse is a serious crime. The CACs empower abused youngsters to tell what happened to them, to be believed by adults and protected by state law. Those are critical steps on a path to healing child victims from trauma nobody wants to talk about.