Spurwink is pleased to announce two recent grants to enhance the Cumberland County Children’s Advocacy Center’s (CAC) ability to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC).
The National Children’s Alliance awarded $54,441 with funding available through the US Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Maine Woman’s Fund awarded $10,000 to develop protocols and a pilot project for the coordination of cases for CSEC at CAC.
Grant funds will allow the team at the Spurwink Center for Safe and Healthy Families (formerly the Child Abuse Program, or CAP) to hire and train a Care Coordinator to manage a rapid, synchronized response for suspected victims of human trafficking and child pornography, bringing together law enforcement, prosecutors, sexual assault services, and medical and clinical teams. Funds will also provide education and outreach about this critical population to law enforcement throughout Cumberland County.
This program is the first of its kind in the state, and will inform CACs across Maine to help address the growing problem of sex trafficking of children and adolescents. The team has been seeing a significant increase in the number of cases referred this year, and the funding will enable Spurwink to meet the demand for services.
