Prescott House Child Advocacy Center

Prescott House Child Advocacy Center was founded in 1987 by the District Attorney at that time, David Barber. It is the 2nd oldest CAC in the nation. Prior to the development of the Prescott House, children who made allegations of severe physical or sexual abuse were taken to DHR and LE offices and the DA’s office to be interviewed/questioned at each location by a different investigator. Mr. Barber realized that this ultimately further traumatized children and endeavored to improve investigations and prosecutions in Jefferson County so that the system would serve to help these children rather than re-victimize them. Therefore, the Prescott House was established to provide a central location where DHR Social Workers, LE Investigators, and Deputy District Attorneys could work together and combine rather than duplicate their efforts. Furthermore, specially trained, Master’s level counselors conduct forensic interviews with the children and the multi-disciplinary team members (DHR, LE & DA) watch on close circuit television so as to maximize the healing process for the child.