Executive Summary

Children’s Advocacy Centres (CACs) started in the United States in the mid-80s. In 2010, the Department of Justice Canada announced funding to support the development or enhancement of these multi-disciplinary organizations under the slightly different name, Child Advocacy Centres (CACs) and later, Child and Youth Advocacy Centres (CYACs). CACs/CYACs strive to reduce the re-traumatization of children and youth who disclose violent victimization by employing a coordinated and collaborative multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach in the services and supports they offer to children, youth and their families, ideally in one location. MDTs generally include: law enforcement officers, child protection workers, mental and physical health practitioners, a family/victim advocate, victim services and on some teams, trained forensic interviewers and prosecutors. In the spring of 2023, there were 39 CACs/CYACs in operation across the country with nine in development, and one undertaking a feasibility study. In addition, there were two exploring a CAC/CYAC proposal.

Method

Through the 2022/23 CAC/CYAC Operational Survey (n=35), researchers were able to identify those organizations with rooms for virtual or remote testimony, those considering rooms for virtual or remote testimony, and those not considering rooms. Researchers reached out to these different organizations, prioritizing those already using virtual testimony rooms to participate in semi-structured, qualitative interviews. Interview topics included the development or history of virtual testimony at the CAC/CYAC (renovations, funding, partnerships, etc.), experiences using the room(s) to date, challenges, successes, as well as data collection. CACs/CYACs not considering the use of virtual testimony were asked specifically about the various challenges they faced in implementing such a space (funding, partnerships, layout of the community or centre, etc.).

A total of 20 interviews were completed in the summer of 2023: nine with CACs/CYACs already using dedicated spaces for virtual testimony; eight interviews for those considering using dedicated spaces for virtual testimony; and three with CACs/CYACs not considering the use of virtual testimony.

Findings

All the organizations interviewed stressed that the purpose of testifying remotely from the CACs/CYACs is to reduce the risk of re-traumatization of young victims/witnesses during criminal court processes. Their focus is on what is best for the child or youth and how best to prioritize their needs.

Several CACs/CYACs had been considering virtual testimony prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. All those interviewed acknowledged that the pandemic helped to speed up the acceptance, and in some cases the championing, of this approach by key stakeholders.

Other findings included steps the CACs/CYACs took to ensure the safety and confidentiality of the children and their families, funding sources, experiences with virtual testimony including challenges, and solutions to those challenges.

Key to the success of these initiatives have been the strong relationships the CACs/CYACs have fostered with criminal justice partners such as Crown prosecutors and judges, as well as court administrators and ongoing communication, awareness raising and education.

For many of the CACs/CYACs, they intend to collect data on their virtual testimony rooms – how and when they are used and outcomes of those cases. There had been only a few cases at the time of the interviews so little data was available. Some of the larger CACs/CYACs have researchers on staff or more experience with data management systems and using data collected for research purposes and not just performance metrics.

Conclusion

Overall, CACs/CYACs agreed that using virtual testimony rooms could have a positive impact on the well-being of the children and youth who might be able to testify in a safe, familiar space and without the fear of seeing the accused in person. While virtual testimony from a space outside of the courthouse is still relatively limited, there is no doubt that the commitment of CACs/CYACs to virtual testimony rooms will facilitate the growing acceptance of this practice in the years to come.