Raven’s Nest Child & Youth Advocacy Centre
In local traditional Indigenous knowledge, Raven’s wings are strong enough to carry the burdens of all, and bring them to a place of healing. Our hope is that Raven’s Nest can be part of your journey to healing or helping others in their journey.
Compassionate, Confidential, Collaborative.
Raven’s Nest CYAC gives free, confidential, and centralized support to children and youth who have experienced and/or witnessed violence. Our Centre provides a trauma-informed, child/youth friendly space where clients have access to a collaborative support system of community partners to support them from RCMP forensic interview to court and all points in between. Our collaborative partners are spread across the Cowichan Valley and all have made a commitment to providing wrap-around supports to those who access services at Raven’s Nest.
Raven’s Nest is located in a confidential location in the Cowichan Valley separate from the Evans Street office. To intake, please call 250-737-4783 or email cyacintakeravensnest@cwav.org and our advocates will be happy to direct you to our secure space.
Guiding Principles
Timely Response
We streamline our response to reduce the negative impact and trauma to the child or youth and their caregivers that arises from unnecessary repetition of their story.
Collaboration
We provide families with collective care through a centralized network of community services to ensure the needs and perspectives of each child or youth are respected and honoured.
Honouring
We recognize the courage and strength it takes for children and youth to come forward and allow us along this journey with them. Our team strives to make each child or youth feel heard and seen.
Zoomer is ready to meet you.
Meet Zoomer, a golden retriever-labrador with a very special job! He is a Facility Support and Courthouse Dog for Raven's Nest Child and Youth Advocacy Centre. His job involves supporting children and youth who have experienced violence as they navigate the criminal justice system. Sometimes that looks like lying at their feet while they testify or cuddling up before and after forensic interviews with police officers. When he's not supporting clients, he is either eating snacks, snoring away, or going for a long walk to find more dog friends! To follow along with Zoomer's career updates, find him on Instagram @watch_me_zoom
Services
Raven’s Nest supports all impacted children and their non-offending caregivers while they navigate the justice system.
If a child discloses any form of abuse, a legal duty to report exists. Call the 24/7 abuse reporting line at
1-800-633-9122
Raven’s Nest CYAC serves the Cowichan Valley. Please click the button below to email us or call
250-737-4783
Child-Friendly Space for Justice
Forensic Interview Facilitation and Support
Children and youth have a safe room equipped for a plain-clothes RCMP officer to come and hold space for them to tell their story.
Court Preparation and Justice System Support
Going over evidence for court can feel very scary. Our advocates will support you through the court prep and court process. We even have a remote testimony room that can be used if a judge allows for testimony outside of the courtroom. We will also provide you with Justice updates so that you know what is happening every step of the way.
Our family room
Our forensic interview room
Community Care
Referrals to Resources
Ensuring that children and youth have all the supports in place for their healing journey, which may include referrals to mental health counselling, community agency supports, or medical supports as needed.
Multidisciplinary Team Meetings
Families have the right to community care. Every month, Raven’s Nest holds a multidisciplinary team meeting with community partners to ensure that our clients can access all necessary supports in one place, which may include RCMP, child welfare, and child and youth mental health service providers. This is a consent-based service and will only happen if a child or youth wants help navigating these systems to ensure better collective care.
How Child Advocacy Helps
A Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC) brings together a multidisciplinary team, made up of police, child protection workers, medical staff, mental health professionals, justice agencies, child and family advocates, and more to work together to ensure that the needs of each child or youth are prioritized throughout the whole process. Raven’s Nest is amongst a growing number of CYACs across Canada that have proven to be successful in ensuring that the traumatisation of children and youth participating in the judicial and court process is reduced. Our model aims to reduce the number of times a child or youth has to tell their story by providing all the necessary resources under one roof and in a child-friendly environment to make the client as comfortable as possible. Our program operates within the Cowichan Valley, with our physical centre based in Duncan.