To handle a growing number of crimes against children both during and following the pandemic, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office has opened a new and larger Child Advocacy Center in Woodbury.
The center serves multiple purposes, including as a spot where professionals can interview children and help them feel comfortable about sharing difficult descriptions of abuse, while also providing advocacy and support as young people and families navigate the criminal justice system, officials said.
“The primary focus of the Child Advocacy Center is to serve as a strong foundational element when investigating allegations of child abuse, both physical and sexual, to include the forensic interviews of child victims and the interviews of non-offending parents,” the prosecutor’s office said in a press release announcing Tuesday’s grand opening of the new facility, located on Glover Street in Woodbury.
The center also serves as a place for experts to meet with families to talk about available services, acquaint them with the criminal justice process and prepare families and victims for courtroom testimony.
“Gloucester County’s Child Advocacy Center will serve our communities and survivors of abuse for years to come by providing hope, healing and justice,” said Prosecutor Christine Hoffman.
Hoffman proposed the idea of a new and larger center — the original center opened on Cooper Street in 2017 — after seeing the rise in crime against kids in recent years.
Statewide, reported child abuse and neglect cases grew from 73,726 in 2020 to 98,583 in 2023, according to figures compiled by Rutgers University. In Gloucester County, those figures grew from 3,334 cases in 2020 to 4,355 last year.
After securing grant funds from the state Department of Children and Families, the prosecutor’s office collaborated with Gloucester County officials and acquired a vacant county-owned property for the new center. While the old space was 2,000 square feet, the new facility is 12,000 square feet.
“This expanded capacity provides the ability to investigate two cases simultaneously, house a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory for child exploitation investigations and host more members of our multi-disciplinary team,” according to the prosecutor’s announcement.
All 21 New Jersey counties now operate Child Advocacy Centers like the one in Gloucester County.
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
