Child Advocacy Center in Lincoln is serving more children in need than ever before

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – More children are in need of help than ever before.

The Child Advocacy Center (CAC) in Lincoln says they are on track to serve over 1300 kids this year, which would be the most they have ever seen. They say inflation is a current reason the number of child abuse cases continues to rise in Nebraska.

The majority of cases for the CAC are sexual abuse, but over the past year, they have seen a rise in domestic abuse and neglect.

Barriers are continuing to pile up, the CAC says, especially with the timing of price peaks and the pandemic. In processing this stress, there’s been confusion on where to turn.

“There’s not a healthy outlet for families and for children to be able to process the stress that they’re experiencing,” Lincoln Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Paige Piper said. “So when that’s manifesting in things like child abuse, and we started seeing an increase in numbers with children who are coming into our agency, we do our very best to provide them with resources to help them continue to heal.”

According to the agency, the severity of the abuse is increasing.

In the past 12 months, they have brought on medical providers to teach children about healthy bodies and boundaries.

Serving 17 counties in southeast Nebraska, one of their farthest cities is over 200 miles round trip. Donations have allowed the CAC to step in to remove the decision between gas and getting help.

“We do everything we can to try to reduce those barriers, by even providing them with a gift card for gas,” Piper said. “We’ll make sure we can get you here and we can get you home. I think that is the way we’ve had to adapt our services over time, making sure that we’re doing what we can to not let inflation be a barrier to them making it through our doors.”

With the number of those needing help increasing, an expansion project for the CAC couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I feel confident that because of the number of individuals that were involved in this process,” Piper said. “What we’re building now is really designed to not just meet our needs today but to meet our needs 20 years from now.”