Attorney General Knudsen announces millions in funding to support child survivors of sexual abuse and other crime

BILLINGS - Attorney General Austin Knudsen today announced the Montana Department of Justice will be providing an additional $3.5 million of funding for Montana Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) to help communities across the state improve their response and care for child survivors of crime and abuse. The funding will come from a recent settlement Attorney General Knudsen reached with Johnson & Johnson to resolve allegations the company knowingly sold baby powder tainted with carcinogenic asbestos.

CACs are facilities that provide care and support for children who have been abused or been a victim of another crime during the investigation. Initially, each of the nine accredited CAC programs in the state and the Children's Alliance of Montana will receive an additional $10,000 to further support their efforts in providing the best care for children who are the victims of crime and abuse.

The Department of Justice is also creating a working group to help disperse the remainder of the money over the next few years to continually support CAC programs and plans to open a grant application for accredited and developing programs to apply for the funds. The Department may also allocate funds towards increased training opportunities and other initiatives to help grow the programs.

Today's announcement was made in Billings at RiverStone Health, which houses the Yellowstone Valley CAC.

"I cannot imagine a better way to put the settlement dollars from Johnson & Johnson to good use. Montana's CACs help us ensure that children who have survived heinous crimes receive the care and support they need during the investigation," Attorney General Knudsen said. "And they help law enforcement and prosecutors put child predators behind bars where they belong. As Attorney General, I will continue to bring more awareness to our Children's Advocacy Centers and do everything I can to support them."

"We are grateful for the additional funding made available by this settlement," Dr. Megan Littlefield, RiverStone Health Chief Medical Officer, said. "Since 2012, the Child Advocacy Center at RiverStone Health has provided a mentally and physically safe environment for children, and we are thankful to be able to continue to improve our medical evaluation services through this grant."

CACs provide a mentally and physically safe environment for abused children and their non-offending family members following a report of sexual abuse. The centers are a place for the multidisciplinary team (MDT) performing the investigation and caring for the child to convene, so the child does not have to go see each professional separately, which reduces the chance of additional trauma and the number of interviews or disclosures the child must give. It also increases the chance of successful prosecution by reducing potential evidence collection errors.

The Montana Department of Justice's Montana Child Sexual Abuse Response Teams (MCSART) currently has memorandums of understanding with the nine accredited CAC programs and the Children's Alliance of Montana and provides each center with $10,000 a year in funding. Today's announcement builds on that support.

The programs eligible for the initial $10,000 in funding are:

• Children's Alliance of Montana
• Butte Child Evaluation Center
• Cascade County CAC
• Emma's House CAC
• First Step Resource Center CAC
• Flathead County CAC
• Gallatin County CAC
• Lewis and Clark County CAC
• Red Bird Woman Center CAC
• Yellowstone Valley CAC