The primary goal of the Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) is to reduce the trauma a child may endure during the investigation and prosecution of child abuse... and to increase positive emotional closing for children and their families, so that they may go on and lead a positive, healthy life.

The CAC brings together in one place the people and services a child needs during the investigation and prosecution of child abuse, to provide a supportive environment that is safe and child friendly, and to ensure that every child gets the help he or she needs to heal his or her body and spirit.

Professionals working with abused and neglected children generally agree that a multidisciplinary approach to child maltreatment has the greatest potential for success. This means that law enforcement officers, child protective service (CPS) workers, commonwealth attorneys, physicians, nurses, educators, mental health clinicians, and other professionals need to work together to ensure the best possible outcome for the children they serve.

Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) have been developed in the cities of Salem and Roanoke and the county of Roanoke to improve the coordination and communication among the personnel involved in the child abuse cases. The CAC is a part of each of these MDTs, and facilitates regular meetings during child abuse investigations, to provide a forum at which MDT members share information related to the investigation.

One of the most important reforms brought about by MDTs is the ability to conduct interviews of the child victims on behalf of both the law enforcement and CPS investigation, reducing the number of interviews and interviewers to which child victims are exposed in the course of an investigation. The CAC employs a trained forensic interviewer who is specially trained to conduct developmentally appropriate, legally sound interviews on behalf of investigators.

The CAC is an associate member of the National Children's Alliance, and the state chapter of CACs, Children's Advocacy Centers of Virginia.