CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The West Virginia Child Advocacy Network (WVCAN) released its Statewide Data Report for the 2025 fiscal year (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025). The data in the report reflects service from West Virginia’s 21 Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) which provided official service to 48 of 55 counties in the state. A CAC provides a safe, child-friendly facility where child protection, criminal justice, and child treatment professionals work together to investigate abuse, hold offenders accountable, and help children heal.
During the year, CACs served 4,734 children – an 7.5% increase in new children served in the last five years. Highlights from the report include:
- 4,603 forensic interviews were conducted
- 17% of the children served were referred to the CAC due to allegations of drug endangerment, 4 times higher than the national average
- 46% of the children served were referred to the CAC due to allegations of sexual abuse
- 67% of the children served by CACs were under 12 years of age
- 96% of alleged offenders were someone the child knew
- 1 in 3 children served had a reported or suspected disability
- 40% of children served were referred to therapy or counseling
- 833 cases had criminal charges filed
- 413 individuals were convicted for crimes against children
- 329,107 children (94% of the state’s population) live in a county officially served by a CAC
In the 2025 fiscal year, 66% of children who received a forensic interview at a CAC disclosed abuse. Even when a child does not disclose, the multidisciplinary team may still have good cause to investigate the reports that prompted the child’s services at the CAC.
Caregivers visiting CACs are asked to take a survey about their experience. 99% of caregivers surveyed said if they knew anyone else who was dealing with a situation like the one their family faced, they would tell that person about the child advocacy center.
The report includes data on victim demographics, alleged offender demographics, reported vs. disclosed abuse, services performed, criminal justice response, and CAC income budget breakdown. Highlights from the statewide data report can be found here.
“In the past year, the number of children referred to West Virginia CACs due to suspected drug endangerment was four times the national average,” said Shiloh Woodard, Executive Director of the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network. “We must do all that we can to ensure the stability and continuity of our 21 Child Advocacy Centers in the Mountain State so that critical services to child survivors of abuse and children and youth who have been exposed to the opioid epidemic can continue to be provided.”
