Support the Youth Advocacy Center!

The Youth Advocacy Center of Lewis County (YAC) is a unique organization that provides unduplicated services within Lewis County to child abuse victims and their non-offending family members. YAC is a program of the Community Action Council of Lewis Mason and Thurston and a satellite center of the nationally accredited Monarch Children’s Justice and Advocacy Center. Our mission is to reduce the impact and incidences of child abuse in the community by providing a child-friendly and trauma-informed collaborative approach to child abuse investigations. We work as part of a team that provides wrap-around services by providing a safe and neutral location in which law enforcement and Child Protective Service investigators may observe forensic interviews with children who are alleged victims of crimes (physical abuse, sexual abuse, child sex trafficking, torture, neglect, etc...). It is also where the child(ren) and non-offending family members receive care coordination support, crisis intervention, mental health and medical treatment referrals, and other basic needs. The child forensic interview is a process where a child is given the opportunity to make a statement about what has happened to them in a safe and supportive environment—a specially trained professional questions the child in a legally sound, developmentally appropriate manner. The interviews are recorded, reducing the number of times children need to be interviewed and reducing trauma to the child. Information gathered in the forensic interview is used to help make decisions about protection, prosecution, and treatment.