Our Story

an independent 501(c)3

The story of The Children’s Center of Medina County began in 2005 when Mead Wilkens (former Director of Medina County Job and Family Services) and Dr. Daryl Steiner (former Medical Director Akron Children’s Hospital) came together to bring the national Child Advocacy Center (CAC) model to Medina County. First established as a Child Advocacy Center Program under Medina County Job and Family Services, the program quickly became its own 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2008 and at that time was named The Children’s Center of Medina County.

The Child Advocacy Center (CAC) model was started in 1985 by Former Congressman Robert E. “Bud” Cramer (AL), who was then a District Attorney in Madison County, Alabama, who saw the need to create a better system to help abused children. The social service and the criminal justice systems, at the time, were not working together in an effective manner that children could trust, adding to the children’s emotional distress, and creating a segmented, repetitious, and often frightening experience for the child victims.

The CAC model of a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) approach, developed through the vision of Former Congressman Cramer and a group of key individuals, pulled together law enforcement, criminal justice, child protective services, and medical and mental health workers onto one coordinated team.

Today, The Children’s Center of Medina County houses not only Child Advocacy Center services but also Family Visitation Center services, and Anti-Human Trafficking Services.