The goals of the CDCP program are to:
- Facilitate immediate officer awareness and identification of children exposed to violence and other trauma, and
- Increase expert clinical assessment and swift coordinated services for all impacted children and families
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg CDCP is a replication of the groundbreaking partnership program between the Yale Child Study Center and the New Haven Department of Police Service that began in 1991. Building upon Yale's model of cross-training between law enforcement officers and child trauma clinicians, immediate coordinated responses and whole family service linkage, Charlotte has a unique priority placed on in-home, family-centered service delivery, aimed at decreasing the myriad of barriers our local families face when seeking care following tragedy.
During professional cross training, officer-clinician teams receive instruction and in-vivo learning on topics including:
- The effects of violence on child neurological and physical development, behavior, and family function
- How to provide supportive intervention, safety planning, and service linkages
- When and how to make appropriate CDCP referrals and the local resources available to assist impacted families
Public Health CDCP leadership and law enforcement partner leadership participate in program conference, planning, and shared program administration duties.
Police officers play a critical and central role in interventions, capitalizing on their ability to help families re-establish a sense of safety and security in the aftermath of violent and traumatic events. In the CDCP model, clinicians and officers together connect vulnerable children and families to support and recovery resources, interrupting a trajectory that otherwise could contribute to increased risk of longer-term mental health problems, academic struggles, further victimization, encounters with the criminal justice system, or even perpetuation of the cycle of violence.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg CD-CP Program History:
- 1996 -Pilot project began in the CMPD Metro Division
- 1998 – Expanded into CMPD North Tryon division
- 2001 – Expanded into CMPD Freedom and Steele Creek Divisions
- 2004 – Expanded into CMPD Westover Division
- 2006 – Expanded into CMPD Eastway Division
- 2007 – Expanded into CMPD Providence Division
- 2014 – Obtained funding to complete expansion into all thirteen CMPD patrol divisions
- 2014 - Expanded into CMPD University and Hickory Grove Divisions
- 2015 – Expanded into CMPD Independence and North Divisions
- 2016 – expanded into CMPD Central and South Divisions
- 2017/2018- Northern Mecklenburg town police department expansions: Towns of Huntersville and Cornelius
- 2021 Town of Davidson expansion
- 2022 Southern Mecklenburg towns expansion begins: Town of Pineville
The U. S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention recognizes the program as a successful model and has designated Yale University as the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence (NCCEV), with Charlotte-Mecklenburg as the NCCEV Southeast Regional Training Center.
The Charlotte and New Haven CDCP teams collaborated with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) as contributors to "Enhancing Police Responses to Children Exposed to Violence: A Toolkit for Law Enforcement" available nationwide to inform police responses for children exposed to violence.