OUR House
Child Advocacy Center
Based in Barre, OUR House provides compassionate advocacy and specialized care for children moving from trauma to healing.
O.U.R. House of Central Vermont, Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that is proud to be both Central Vermont's Children's Advocacy Center and the Washington County Unit for Special Investigations. The letters "OUR" form an acronym for "One Unified Response" which is the reason OUR House was established. We knew, in 1989, that it was important to make it as easy as possible for our children and their families to go through the process of reporting abuse and the resulting investigation.
Established in 1989, OUR House is proud to be celebrating over twenty years of helping the children of central Vermont. OUR House is a Charter Member of the National Children's Alliance and was Vermont's first Children's Advocacy Center.
A Child Advocacy Center (CAC) is a safe, child friendly space where children who have experienced physical or sexual abuse can come with their family and share their experience with training professionals. All of the services and support a child/their family may need can be available to them all in one place – where every team member works together to help on the healing journey
The CAC offers some services at the center, some specialized referrals
and coordination of all team members:
Victim Advocacy
Victim Advocates work to provide seamless support, resources and referrals to survivors and their caregivers! They are able to stay in touch, advocate on behalf of the child or adult and share information from the team about the process and investigation.
Forensic Interviews
A dedicated interviewer, will provide a neutral interview at the pace and to the comfort of the interviewee. The intention of the interview is to learn the persons experience, from their perspective. In this style interview, the child or interviewee is in control of the conversation.
Therapy
Referrals and assistance finding therapy services are available to youth effected by sexual and physical violence, as well as their family members. They will have access to a trained professional who specializes in trauma of this nature and understand the support needed.
Medical Exams
Specialized medical evaluation and treatment are made available to child advocacy center clients as part of the team response. Children can receive a non-traumatizing and often reassuring medical exam that is tailored to the child and their level of comfort.