“The Smile of the Child” and the US National Children’s Advocacy Center build a strong partnership for the protection of all children from abuse and violence
18 April 2019
PRESS RELEASE
Athens, 18 April 2019
“The Smile of the Child” and the US National Children’s Advocacy Center build a strong partnership for the protection of all children from abuse and violence
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between “The Smile of the Child” and the US-based National Children’s Advocacy Center (NCAC), enriching the already existing and effective bilateral partnership in the field of prevention, intervention and therapy of children victims of any form of violence, abuse and/or neglect.
The signing ceremony took place on the occasion of the recent visit of the Executive Director of NCAC, Chris Newlin to the premises of the Organization in Athens, who was welcomed by the President of “The Smile of the Child” and Member of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), Mr. Costas Yannopoulos.
The cooperation of the two organizations dates back in many years. In 2014, recognizing the need for support to children victims of abuse and inspired by the US model of the Child Advocacy Centers, “The Smile of the Child” established “The House of the Child” with the aim to provide customized mental health services to children and adolescents, victims of any form of abuse, neglect, and domestic violence, and comprising a multi-disciplinary therapeutic team that carries out a holistic and comprehensive evaluation and treatment of children victims. Since 2014 more than 650 children have received 12.500 therapeutic services from the multi-disciplinary team of “The House of the Child” Day Center.
In addition, with the support of the US Embassy in Greece ‘The Smile of the Child” invited the Executive Director of NCAC, Chris Newlin to Greece to provide intensive training seminars on the multi-disciplinary model of the Child Advocacy Center. Based on this training and in the framework of the close partnership between “The Smile of the Child” and NCAC that ensued, the Organization managed to establish the facility, entitled “Salle Mélanie” upon the model initiated by the French Organization “La Mouette”.
This facility was placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Justice and the competent authorities in order to ensure child-friendly justice for victimized children through a unique testimony from victimized children. However, despite this effort and international support, the Greek state has not utilized to date the “Salle Mélanie”, the first facility of its kind in the country.
The official partnership of “The Smile of the Child” and NCAC, based on this specific Memorandum of Understanding, is expected to foster their mutual cooperation in various fields and thematic areas, including exchanging expertise and good practices, organizing specialized and targeted trainings for their professional staff, using existing tools and adjusting them to the national context, developing joint awareness raising campaigns and holding joint conferences on child abuse.
For more information, please contact the press team of “The Smile of the Child” at press@hamogelo.gr or at +210 3306 140.
About the National Children’s Advocacy Center (NCAC)
The National Children’s Advocacy Center (NCAC), located in Huntsville, Alabama, revolutionized the United States’ response to child sexual abuse. Since its creation in 1985, the NCAC has served as a model for the 1000+ Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) now operating in the United States and in more than 33 countries throughout the world. Learn more about NCAC at www.nationalcac.org
About “The Smile of the Child”
“The Smile of the Child” is a non-profit, non-governmental Greek Organization active in the critical field of child protection, support of children in need, as well as free public health service for children, both in prevention and treatment. The Organization was founded by a 10-year-old boy, Andreas Yannopoulos, before he succumbed to brain cancer in late 1995. In 23 years of operation the Organization has supported more than 1.480.000 children and has been a leader in developing activities aiming at addressing the phenomenon of child abuse at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of prevention. Learn more about “The Smile of the Child” at www.hamogelo.gr
Inauguration ceremony of The House of the Child” Day Center and Child Advocacy Center in the presence of the President of “The Smile of the Child”, Costas Yannopoulos, the President of “La Mouette” Organization, Annie Gourgue, the Center’s Scientific Responsible, Dr. George Nikolaidis and the former Alternate Citizen Protection Minister Yiannis Panousis, April 2015 @ The Smile of the Child
With the support of the US Embassy in Greece ‘The Smile of the Child” invited the Executive Director of NCAC, Chris Newlin to Greece in order to provide intensive training to Greek professionals on the multi-disciplinary model of the Child Advocacy Center, October 2014 @ The Smile of the Child
The Child Advocacy Center is placed at the disposal of Greek authorities. The meeting was held in October 2014 in the presence of the Minister of Justice, Charalambos Athanasiou. the President of “The Smile of the Child”, Costas Yannopoulos, the former Deputy Attorney of the Hellenic Supreme Court, Vasileios Markis, the former Attorney for Minors, Chrysoula Papataksiarchi and the NCAC’s Executive Director, Chris Newlin @ The Smile of the Child
