Our services include the Chinook Child and Youth Advocacy Centre which is devoted to giving children and youth who have experienced sexualabuse, physical abuse or severe neglect, a safe space to share their story and receive the support and resources they need throughout the entire disclosure, investigation, and judicial process. The Chinook Child and Youth Advocacy Centre is a community-based response that uses a “seamless, coordinated and collaborative approach to addressing the needs of victims or children/youth who have witnessed a crime”.

The Chinook Child and Youth Advocacy Centre is our community’s response to child abuse.

The Chinook Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (CCYAC) is 1 of 8 centres in Alberta that is dedicated to giving children and youth who have experienced abuse a safe and child friendly space to access services and supports. 

Our blended approach brings together a multidisciplinary team of community partners including Alberta Health Services, Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, Blood Tribe Children’s Services, Blood Tribe Police Service, Lethbridge Police Service, Piikani Child and Family Services, RCMP, South Region Children’s Services, and Taber Police Service to offer unified services that provide the right support at the right time in a welcoming, child-friendly, and safe environment. This approach facilitates efficient interagency communication and information sharing, ongoing involvement of key individuals, and support for children and families which are associated with less anxiety, fewer interviews, and more appropriate and timely referrals for needed services. Additionally, each agency gains the benefit of a broadened knowledge base from which decisions are made and improved and timely evidence gathering.

Once referred to the CCYAC by police or child protective services, the child and family will enter the CCYAC where they will meet with one of our Child and Family Advocates to learn what their time at the Centre may look like. A forensic interview will be completed with the child at the Centre. The goal of the forensic interview is to use techniques grounded in science to gather as much accurate and extensive memory recall as possible while limiting the impact of trauma on the child or youth. The memory recall elicited serves as evidence needed to proceed with charges and a criminal case in court.

The CCYAC team is made up of a Manager, Child and Family Advocates and a Clinical Child Psychologist. Together with our community partners, we provide specialized supports for individuals and families who have been impacted by abuse across 31 communities of Southwestern Alberta.

Our Partners

The specialized services offered at the Chinook Child Advocacy Centre are provided in collaboration with our community partners:

• Alberta Health Services
• Alberta Crown Prosecution Service
• Blood Tribe Child Protection Services
• Blood Tribe Police Service
• Lethbridge Police Service
• Lethbridge School Division (Alberta Education, Zone 6)
• Piikani Child and Family Services
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police
• South Region Children’s Services
• Taber Police Service