Community Partner Spotlight: Massachusetts Children’s Alliance
October 17th, 2025
As the Cape & Islands Child Advocacy Center (CAC), Children’s Cove is on the front line of the coordinated response to cases involving crimes against children in the region. We provide a compassionate, efficient, child-friendly facility for child abuse intervention, and our staff facilitate a streamlined process which reduces the risk of retraumatization for children and preserves the best evidence for investigators. With more than 950 CACs in the country, we are not alone in that effort. While Children’s Cove is the only agency of its kind that serves the Cape & Islands, we are but one of 12 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where we work collaboratively to advance awareness and action on the critical issues impacting children. Together, our work receives coordinated communication and support from our state chapter, the Massachusetts Children’s Alliance (MACA).
Founded in 1996, MACA has become the local, state, and national go-to resource for helping victims of child abuse through the statewide network of CACs. A nonprofit organization based in Boston, MACA’s mission is to pioneer the most promising, up to date practices and techniques to help victims of child abuse. They do this by delivering effective educational programming, galvanizing informed and committed legislative support, and mobilizing communities to have tough but necessary conversations about child abuse. As the state chapter, MACA focuses on critical areas of need, which often fall outside the direct service delivery provided by individual CACs, in addition to providing assistance with the development and enhancement of member centers (like Children’s Cove).
While there are numerous ways MACA supports CACs in the Commonwealth, the direct impact on the Cape & Islands is palpable. For many years, MACA spearheaded efforts and worked with state legislators to codify stable funding for CACs across the Commonwealth, and, in 2022, was able to secure $200,000 in funding for staff positions at Children’s Cove. They have provided funding and support to Children’s Cove through grant application and management assistance to build regional capacity in the areas of education and training for our multidisciplinary and behavioral health providers. Most recently, this was evidenced by nearly $75,000 in funding received from the Tower Foundation to provide practitioner training in the evidence-based clinical treatment called Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) for local mental health clinicians who take referrals from our center. MACA supports training for CAC staff and local providers through their access to mental health initiative. This includes organizing trainings in CFTSI, TF-CBT, telehealth, and treatment for children and youth with problematic sexual behavior (PSB-CBT).
Coordinated communication is critical to the success of the 12 CAC’s across the state. MACA facilitates a network of meetings internally to support the various disciplines that make up a CAC team. Throughout the year, CACs meet remotely to discuss current trends and peer feedback in forensic interviewing, mental health and treatment modalities, education, awareness, and training initiatives. These conversations allow us to move forward together in the care of children. To further reinforce this collaboration, each year MACA hosts their annual conference Healing, Hope & Justice: An Advanced Conversation bringing together more than 300 child abuse professionals from across the Commonwealth. Attendees include law enforcement, prosecutors, Department of Children and Families (DCF) investigators, medical and mental health professionals, and Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) staff, all dedicated to improving responses to child abuse.
We are honored to work with the incredible team at MACA, who have long partnered with us to support critical services in our region and meet the needs of the children we serve. Thank you!
To learn more about the Massachusetts Children’s Alliance, visit their website here.
