Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County Awarded Mass General Brigham Community Health Impact Funds
Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County Awarded Mass General Brigham Community Health Impact Funds
Funding to Support Mental and Behavioral Health Initiatives
Boston MA—The Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County (CAC) is pleased to announce that we have received Mass General Brigham Community Health Impact Funds to support the growth and enhancement of its Training and Outreach Program. This necessary funding will ensure the CAC’s capacity to engage and educate the Suffolk County community, strengthen its ability to identify child victims, and ensure equitable access to the CAC’s specialized services.
This funding is part of $3 million in Community Health Impact Funds that has been awarded to 20 local organizations to support mental and behavioral health initiatives in Boston and North Suffolk County. The Phillip and Susan Ragon Building, a multi-year construction project that will result in a state-of-the-art clinical care building on the Massachusetts General Hospital campus, triggered this landmark investment through the Massachusetts Determination of Need (DoN) process.
“By expanding our training, outreach, and community engagement efforts, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County will help reduce the stigma surrounding child abuse and its lasting effects, empowering more children and families to seek the support and behavioral health services they need,” said Annie Marcklinger, Executive Director. “This funding will strengthen our ability to unite public, private, and community partners in the fight to protect children and promote their long-term well-being.”
This necessary funding will ensure the CAC’s capacity to engage and educate the Suffolk County community, strengthen its ability to identify child victims, and ensure equitable access to specialized services. The project will create safer environments that help prevent abuse and enhance the community’s ability to recognize abuse and connect child victims to healing care.
"Access to mental health services is essential to advancing health equity, particularly in historically marginalized communities," said Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, Chief Community Health and Health Equity Officer at Mass General Brigham. "Mental health conditions like depression and anxiety have increased in prevalence in recent years, especially in communities in which systemic inequities persist. With community-based, culturally relevant mental health support, people can better manage their depression or anxiety and ultimately improve their health outcomes."
“This is an incredible opportunity for the CAC to expand its reach and work to make Suffolk County and safer community for all children,” Marcklinger said. “We look forward to seeing the impact of this initiative for years to come.”
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About Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County:
The Children’s Advocacy Center of Suffolk County, a fully accredited member of the National Children’s Alliance, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The CAC unites public, private and community partners to promote safety, healing and justice for child victims and their families with a coordinated and comprehensive response to abuse. Serving more than 1,600 children annually, the CAC’s multidisciplinary team partners with more than 25 agencies to reduce stress and improve outcomes throughout the abuse investigation, intervention and healing process. Additional information about the CAC, programs and services is available at www.suffolkcac.org.
About Mass General Brigham
Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. For more information, please visit massgeneralbrigham.org.