Children's advocacy centre fails to respond to dental, mental and physical ill-health in abused children.

Abstract

AimSweden´s first multidisciplinary children's advocacy centre (CAC) was founded in 2005 as a collaborative practice between child protection services, the legal system and health care in response to police‐reported child abuse. CACs were introduced in the county of Skåne in 2007. The aim of the study was to describe the health of children investigated at the CAC in Lund, and to examine whether the CAC model of collaboration responded to the healthcare needs of these children.MethodsAll children aged 0–17 years investigated at the CAC in 2015 were included in this retrospective study. We reviewed the CAC files and the children's medical and dental records from one year prior to, until one year after their assessment at the CAC.ResultsOur review of the medical and dental records (n = 298) showed a high prevalence of mental, dental and physical ill‐health. After the CAC joint meeting, only 1% of the children were referred for a medical examination and 4% for a focused forensic evaluation.ConclusionOur study demonstrates limitations in the CAC process in responding to extensive health issues of the young victims of crime. We suggest mental, dental and physical health assessments to be statutory in CACs.