Closing the Gap: How WGACAC Is Bringing Early Trauma Intervention to Rural Children

When a child discloses abuse, the response that follows matters.

In many rural communities, however, children and families face an additional challenge after disclosure: waiting weeks—or even months—for trauma-focused mental health services. Providers are limited, waitlists are long, and families may have to travel significant distances to access evidence-based treatment.

At the West Georgia Child Advocacy Center, we knew that waiting could not be the only option.

That is why WGACAC has worked to build the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI) directly into our response for children and families following abuse and other traumatic events. In 2026, our team had the opportunity to share what we have learned with professionals from across the country at both the Association of Professionals Solving the Abuse of Children (APSAC) Colloquium and the National Children’s Alliance Leadership Conference.

Executive Director Allen Babcock, Mental Health Coordinator Savanna Knowles, and Clinical Supervisor Helen Juarez presented WGACAC’s experience implementing CFTSI in a rural CAC setting, including the challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities created by providing trauma intervention much earlier in a family’s journey.

Why Early Intervention Matters

CFTSI is a brief, evidence-based intervention developed at the Yale Child Study Center for children who have recently experienced a potentially traumatic event.

Typically delivered over five to eight sessions, CFTSI brings the child and caregiver together to improve communication, identify trauma symptoms, strengthen coping skills, and help families better understand what a child is experiencing.

Just as importantly, CFTSI helps determine what comes next.

Some children may need longer-term trauma therapy such as TF-CBT or another evidence-based treatment. Others may experience meaningful improvement through early intervention and caregiver support. CFTSI gives families help now while creating a clearer pathway to whatever additional services may be needed.

For a rural CAC, that timing is critical.

Building Mental Health Support Into the CAC Response

WGACAC has intentionally worked to make mental health support part of the CAC process rather than something that begins weeks after a child leaves our office.

Children and caregivers are screened for trauma symptoms and immediate needs. Families who may benefit from CFTSI can then be connected quickly to services, while children needing longer-term treatment can be referred to trauma-focused providers in our regional network.

To expand capacity, WGACAC also partners with graduate-level counseling and social work interns who provide services under close clinical supervision. This allows the Center to increase access while maintaining strong clinical oversight, training, and fidelity to the intervention.

It is an approach designed around the realities of rural service delivery: fewer providers, greater distances, limited transportation, and families who cannot afford to wait for help.

From Weeks of Waiting to Services Within Days

Before expanding this approach, families in our region could routinely wait six weeks or longer to begin trauma-focused services.

Today, many families can begin CFTSI within days.

Our local outcome data has also been encouraging, including substantial reductions in trauma symptoms measured through the CPSS-5 among children and caregivers participating in the program.

Those results are consistent with the larger evidence base supporting CFTSI. National research has demonstrated that early intervention can significantly reduce post-traumatic stress symptoms and help prevent longer-term difficulties for some children.

Our local data is not research—it reflects the experience of children and families served by WGACAC. But it gives us an important measure of whether the model is working in the communities we serve.

And increasingly, the answer is yes.

Taking a Rural Perspective to the National Stage

Presenting at both APSAC and the National Children’s Alliance Leadership Conference gave WGACAC an opportunity to contribute something important to the national conversation: what evidence-based mental health access can look like when resources are limited.

Rural communities often cannot simply replicate service models built for large metropolitan areas. Programs must account for workforce shortages, transportation barriers, funding limitations, clinical supervision needs, and the challenge of serving families across large geographic areas.

Our experience demonstrates that those barriers do not have to mean children go without timely care.

Through partnerships, clinical supervision, workforce development, telehealth, trauma screening, and early intervention, rural CACs can build meaningful mental health capacity even when traditional resources are scarce.

National Learning. Local Impact.

We are proud that WGACAC’s work is helping inform conversations beyond West Georgia.

But the purpose of presenting nationally is ultimately local.

Every strategy we refine, every partnership we strengthen, and every lesson we bring home helps us provide a better response to children and caregivers in Carroll, Haralson, and Heard counties.

A child’s ZIP code should not determine how quickly they receive help after trauma.

Our goal is simple: when a child needs support, we want that support to begin as quickly as possible.

If you would like to help WGACAC continue expanding early trauma intervention and evidence-based mental health services for children in West Georgia, you can support our work at givebutter.com/Impact26.