History of the Philadelphia Children's Alliance

PCA Staff Member - Intake

The Philadelphia Children's Alliance (PCA) coordinates a multi-agency, interdisciplinary response to promote healing and justice for victims of child sexual abuse in Philadelphia. PCA was founded in 1989, became a full member of the National Children’s Alliance (NCA) in 1992, and was accredited by NCA in 2001.

Today, PCA meets all NCA standards and is, in fact, a national best standards model for peer agencies nationwide. Over the past 20 years, the Philadelphia Children’s Alliance has advocated for a team-based approach, built cooperative relationships, introduced efficiencies in the system providing rapid response, and effectively changed how abused children are served and cared for in Philadelphia. Team coordination has increased; we work in partnership with Philadelphia’s Police Special Victims Unit, the Department of Human Services, the District Attorney’s Office, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Support Center for Child Advocates, Women Organized Against Rape, and the JJ Peters Institute. PCA’s most recent Strategic Plan calls for capacity-building so that by 2015 we will have the capacity to respond to 100 percent of alleged sexual abuse reports in Philadelphia.

As the only primary intervention organization in Philadelphia working with child victims of sexual abuse, this mandate to increase capacity is driven by a critical need for PCA’s services to help protect the children and families we serve.

Mission Statement

The Philadelphia Children’s Alliance, an independent non-profit organization, promotes healing and justice for child sexual abuse victims in Philadelphia by conducting state of the art forensic interviews, providing victim support services, collaborating with other agencies and leading the development of an integrated response.

Vision Statement 

Every child sexual abuse victim in Philadelphia will be referred to the Philadelphia Children’s Alliance for justice and healing services through a coordinated response system. PCA will offer its high quality services in an accessible, state-of-the-art facility that maximizes integration with collaborating agencies. PCA will promote these practices locally and nationally.

Media Statement 

Working with DHS, the Police and the DA’s office, Philadelphia Children’s Alliance (PCA) provides a coordinated response to allegations of abuse and provides forensic interviews and other support services for the city’s victims of child sexual abuse. Because of PCA’s expertise and knowledge, sometimes other child victims of traumatic situations are brought to the facility to be interviewed by PCA’s highly trained forensic interviewers. It is PCA’s policy to protect the privacy and identity of the victims we serve. Therefore, we cannot verify who comes here and we cannot comment on specific cases. Thank you for your understanding. -The Philadelphia Children’s Alliance

Ceisler Media is handling media inquiries for PCA. Please direct inquiries to: Dennille Schuler, Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy, 215-735-6760

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