The Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) is a collaborative team of professionals who work both together and independently to investigate crimes involving children. The team works together to prevent redundancy, overlap and confusion for the child victims and their families, and for the overall success of their investigation.
The multidisciplinary team is commonly referred to as the MDT and includes law enforcement, Children’s Division, prosecutors, juvenile officers, medical professionals, mental health professionals, victim advocates, and the CAC staff.
Your CAC, Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis (CASGSL) is embedded within the Department of Psychological Services at the University of Missouri St. Louis. CASGSL serves the children and families of St. Louis County and St. Louis City.
The idea of a CAC came about in the 1980’s as child abuse came to the forefront. A prosecuting attorney by the name of Robert “Bud” Cramer in Huntsville, Alabama saw children going through the system having to retell their story multiple times to different agencies. Each time a child shares about their experience they also relive the abuse and trauma of the abuse. For these reasons the idea for the CAC model was developed so the child only has to tell their experience once, yet all multidisciplinary team members can get the information they need.
ChildFirst Doctrine
The Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis operates by the ChildFirst Doctrine which is a hierarchy.
The ChildFirst Doctrine priorities are:
- The Child
- The involved family members
- The multidisciplinary team
- The CAC
