Washington D.C. - U.S. Representative Bud Cramer (D-Ala), who sits on the Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittee, announced that the National Children's Advocacy Center has been awarded a $125,000 grant from the Department of Justice for One by One:  A Safe Kids/Safe Streets Initiative.

Safe Kids/Safe Streets is a research-based demonstration program that seeks to reduce juvenile delinquency by helping break the cycle of child and adolescent abuse and neglect.  Huntsville/Madison County is one of five sites across the country participating in the Safe Kids/Safe Streets program, looking for new ways to prevent and respond to child abuse and neglect.  These five sites are encouraged to restructure and strengthen the criminal and juvenile justice systems to be more comprehensive and proactive in helping children and adolescents and their families who have been or are at risk of being abused and neglected.   The program seeks to answer the question of whether a combination of systems reform, training, and prevention education can measurably improve child safety and well being.  The project is based on research that shows the association between early abuse and/or neglect as a child and later delinquency and criminality.

"I am very excited about this grant for the One by One program," said Cramer.  "The National Children's Advocacy Center has forever changed the way that child abuse victims are treated.  The Huntsville One by One project has served as the catalyst within the community to change and strengthen the system by improving training, communication, information sharing, and coordination among community organizations, the court system, investigators, the schools, prosecutors and other agencies that work to prevent and respond to child abuse in Madison County." 

The National Children's Advocacy Center (www.nationalcac.org) was started in 1985 by Congressman Cramer when he was the District Attorney for Madison County.  As a prosecutor, Cramer saw first-hand the harsh reality of child abuse and neglect and realized that the justice system was not doing enough to protect and serve children. Cramer started the National Children's Advocacy Center in Huntsville in an effort to change forever the way child abuse cases are handled.  This revolutionary program was the first of its kind to provide comprehensive support and services for physically and sexually abused children in a child-friendly environment. 

The Children's Advocacy Center that Cramer started in Huntsville has served as the model for over 500 similar programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.