‘Every Day We See Children Making Progress:’ Lakeshore Children’s Advocacy Center Expands Critical Trauma Counseling Services
Jake Newby
| 5 min read
Child abuse investigation cases at Lakeshore Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) have tripled in the past five years. In that time, the organization conducted three times as many forensic interviews of child survivors of abuse. Although a child will come to the CAC once for a forensic interview, they may stay with Lakeshore to receive therapy and other services for six months to a year or longer.
“Our ultimate goal is to make sure families heal, recover and thrive,” said Lakeshore CAC Executive Director Megan McCarthy.
In an effort to keep up with this growing demand for services, Lakeshore CAC sought support to expand its critical trauma therapy services. That’s why Lakeshore partnered with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation in 2024 and received a two-year $40,000 Community Healthy Matching Grant.
The funding has allowed Lakeshore to provide access to critical services for child survivors of abuse and their families while raising awareness about child abuse and neglect in northwest Michigan. Lakeshore CAC is one of 40 children’s advocacy centers in Michigan, whose mission is to ensure a child-focused response to investigations of child abuse. Lakeshore CAC serves Manistee, Mason and Oceana counties in northwest Michigan.
Lakeshore CAC’s evidence-based trauma therapy is vital to its community
Lakeshore CAC works with law enforcement, the prosecuting attorney’s office, child protective services and medical and mental health professionals to make sure there is a child-focused, child-centered approach to investigations. This means collaborating with each of these groups to conduct forensic interviews and share them with the proper agencies while providing advocacy services and court preparation.
In addition to that, a vital part of the CAC’s program is trauma therapy, which offers a space for children and their families to learn how to respond to trauma and effectively process how the traumatic event has impacted the child and their family.
“Our trauma therapy program is a critical part of what we do,” McCarthy added. “The increase in numbers, in one way, can be seen as a positive. It does mean as we train more adults to recognize the signs of abuse, as we are in school districts teaching kids what red flags are and to speak out when something has happened. As our community has become more aware, it’s led to an increase in reports.”
Lakeshore CAC benefits from three contracted therapists who walk with each family on their road to recovery by providing:
- Trauma therapy
- Play therapy
- Individual therapy
- Family counseling
“Our therapists use evidence-based, trauma-informed practices,” McCarthy said. “They participate in an incredible amount of ongoing learning, as well as peer support of one another. We’re extremely proud of our efforts in the therapy program, and the hard but important work being done by kids on their journey to healing.”
How BCBSM Foundation funding is making a difference for the Lakeshore CAC
BCBSM Foundation funding allowed Lakeshore CAC to expand its trauma counseling services by paying its three therapists to conduct significantly more counseling sessions between 2024 and 2025.
“(The funding) is allowing us to provide 600 sessions over two years, that may not have been covered otherwise,” McCarthy said. “We have therapists meeting with kids every day in age-appropriate, evidence-based practices to help them process what has happened to them so they can move beyond the abuse. So, this becomes part of their story, but not their defining factor.”
“Lakeshore puts the needs of every child that enters their CAC first,” said Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation Program Officer Audrey Rogal. “Through thoughtful, compassionate care and fearless advocacy they make a true difference for the community they serve. The Foundation is thrilled to help them account for an increasing demand in services, so they can help as many families as possible.”
Lakeshore CAC sees children make progress every day
Every day, children are making progress in processing and recovering from their trauma under Lakeshore CAC’s roof. McCarthy says it’s a “great privilege” to watch kids put in the hard work it takes to make sense of the abuse they’ve faced.
“They work with our therapy team to take steps forward,” she added. “To process, to learn healthy coping strategies, to work with their family in addressing their feelings, their needs. People will say, ‘this must be a hard place to work or a depressing place to work,’ but it’s very much the opposite of that. The Lakeshore Children’s Advocacy Center – just like CACs across the country – are places of hope. The bad thing that happened to the child didn’t happen at our CAC, it happened somewhere else. The child is able to come to our CAC, and we provide a lifeline for their family.”
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. As she reflected on the month this year, McCarthy said she hopes more “tough but necessary” conversations about abuse are taking place in 2025.
“It’s critical that adults recognize the signs of abuse and know what to do if a child discloses abuse or if they have a suspicion,” she said. “Kids depend on all of us to step in, because often they are unable to speak up for themselves.”
Learn more about BCBSM Foundation’s Community Health Matching Grant program by clicking here, including eligibility and application information.
Photo credit: Megan McCarthy/Lakeshore CAC
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