Announcements

  • ***RESCHEDULED*** Planned NCAtrak Outage for System Upgrade

    By: Robert Dahlhausen Robert Dahlhausen , 10 days ago

    A planned outage of NCAtrak has been rescheduled pending new availability from the development team and a new outage window will be announced on Wednesday, April 16th. The outage was originally scheduled to occur on Saturday, April 12th, 2025 between 8pm to 11pm Eastern Time.

    This is part of a planned upgrade to the infrastructure of NCAtrak and is designed to provide the following benefits:

    • Enhances performance for Custom Reporting when using complex queries or querying a large date range.
    • Increases database backup retention window from 30 days to 4 months.
    • Strengthens security and access controls for backend NCAtrak resources.
    • Eliminates multiple risk factors for unplanned outage events.
    • Improves overall responsiveness and reliability of the NCAtrak application.

    FAQs

    Does this outage put my case data at risk?
    No, we are taking several precautions to ensure case data is not impacted by this upgrade, including creating multiple redundant database backups both before and after the start of the outage. The purpose of the outage window is to allow the NCAtrak development team to perform the upgrade with the least possible risk of data loss.

    Will this system upgrade increase the cost of my NCAtrak subscription?
    This will not increase the cost of NCAtrak beyond the planned annual price increases that were announced for 2024-2028. This system upgrade was made possible by the 2025 subscription price increase and is intended to improve the long-term performance and capacity of NCAtrak.

    Who do I contact if I have questions or concerns?
    You can contact the NCAtrak Support team via any of the following methods:

    1. Create a support ticket at the following link: https://ncatrak.com/get-help
    2. Send an email to support@ncatrak.org
    3. Send a message within NCAtrak by clicking the link at the bottom of every page NCAtrak that says "Click here to log a comment, suggestion or incident with NCA."

  • Still time to submit an abstract for Seamless!

    By: Jami Bolton Jami Bolton , 10 days ago

    Have something valuable to share with your clinical colleagues? We invite you to submit an abstract!

    NCA's Institute for Better Mental Health Outcomes is soliciting abstracts for presentations for the 4th annual Seamless Conference on September 17-18, 2025. The deadline to submit an abstract is 11:59pm PT Friday, Aprill 11th, 2025. The target audience for this conference is comprised of licensed mental health providers working in or with Child Advocacy Centers. We encourage presenters with expertise relevant to the target audience from diverse backgrounds to submit abstracts for presentations.

  • NCA Recognition Award Deadline!

    By: Rachael Novick Rachael Novick , 26 days ago

    The National Children’s Alliance proudly recognizes outstanding individuals and groups that have demonstrated their commitment and dedication to children and their families by promoting the Children’s Advocacy Center model and mission through the NCA Recognition Awards! 

    The 2025 NCA Recognition award nominations are live! The deadline to submit nominations are March 26th. Nominate someone deserving today! 

    Learn more here. 

  • Seamless Call for Abstracts!

    By: Jami Bolton Jami Bolton , one month ago

    We are now accepting abstracts for the 2025 Seamless Conference! This virtual event, scheduled for September 17 & 18, is designed for clinicians working at or with Child Advocacy Centers. We are seeking innovative training topics for this year’s conference. The deadline to submit your abstract is April 11!

    Please reach out with any questions, jbolton@nca-online.org

  • Check out this training opportunity from our apsac partners!

    By: Jami Bolton Jami Bolton , one month ago

    A 9 week course on all the B's of Child Physical Abuse including:

    March 5th:  Block Physical Abuse: Solutions presented by Stacie LeBlanc, JD, MEd, FAPSAC & Darrell Armstrong, EdS-MFT, MDiv, DDiv

    March 12th: Baffling, Bizarre, Beyond Belief Child Abuse Cases presented by Debra Esernio-Jenssen, MD, FAAP 
    Resources 

    (FRIDAY) March 21st: Bogus Physical Abuse: Mimics of Maltreatment presented by Michelle Greene, DO
    Resources

    March 26th: Brains: Abusive Head Trauma presented by Randell Alexander, MD, PhD
    Resources 

    April 2nd: Burns: Pediatric Burns and Their Medical Mimics in Child Maltreatment presented by Lauren Burge, MD
    Resources 

    April 9th: Bull: Medical Child Abuse: Detecting, Surviving and Healing from Unprecedented Bull presented by Rebecca Gill, MD, Jordyn Hope & Brian Fleming

    April 16th: Bones/Fractures presented by Dr. Adrienne Atzemis

    April 23rd: Brains and Backlash: Medical Diagnosis, Legal Controversies, and Prevention Strategies for Abusive Head Trauma presented by Vincent J. Palusci, MD, MS, FAAP, FAPSAC
    Resources

    April 30th: Bruises and other Boo-Boos: Skin Injury presented by Dr. Adrienne Atzemis

  • CFTSI next month!

    By: Jami Bolton Jami Bolton , one month ago

    Join us this April 2-4 for Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention training!

    CFTSI is a brief (5-8 session) evidence-based treatment that can help lower the stressful symptoms children experience after a traumatic experience so they can heal and recover. It’s an invaluable treatment to add to the list of services offered by our CACs. Because CFTSI is both short and effective, it can help reduce the need for longer term care, cut down on waitlists, and allow clinicians to serve more children. 

    Ready to learn? Apply now! Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management

    Any questions? Please reach out to Jami Bolton, jbolton@nca-online.org

  • New Community Page for Care Process Model-Pediatric Traumatic Stress (CPM-PTS)

    By: Geoff Sidoli Geoff Sidoli , one month ago

    We are excited to announce that NCA has developed community page on NCA engage for the Care Process Model-Pediatric Traumatic Stress (CPM-PTS).  We will be providing regular training on the CPM-PTS (https://learn.nationalchildrensalliance.org/training-calendar) and are excited to also announce we will be providing an open consultation group for those trained in the CPM-PTS.  This will be on the 4th Wednesday of each month, from 1:00-2:00 pm (Eastern Time).  Check out the CPM-PTS page on NCA’s website (https://www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/cpmpts/).  And lastly, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, gsidoli@nca-online.org. 

  • Leadership Conference Awards and Registration!

    By: Rachael Novick Rachael Novick , one month ago

    Join us in our nation's capital or virtually from the comfort of your desk June 9-11 for the 2025 NCA Leadership Conference. Early Bird prices end on March 30th. Learn more and register here. 

    The 2025 Recognition award nominations are now live! Learn more here. 

  • New NCAtrak Pricing 2025

    By: Rhonda Wurgler Rhonda Wurgler , 4 months ago

    New NCAtrak subscription pricing takes effect January 1.

    Future developments of the NCAtrak features you and your colleagues have asked for require investment in the system. But, your agency budget needs stability. To minimize the impact on your budget, we opted for small increases spread over multiple years.

    The next small increase will take effect on January 1, 2025. NCAtrak subscription prices are increasing to $2,228 for renewals and $3,228 for new subscribers in the 2025 calendar year. This is part of our previously announced 5-year plan to increase NCAtrak subscriptions by 3% yearly. Renewals and new subscription prices are available at the 2024 rate through December 31.

    Subscriptions in 2026 will similarly increase to $2,295 for renewals and $3,295 for new subscriptions.
     

    What your support makes possible


    Your support for the only case management system by CACs for CACs means a lot. For one thing, it means we can introduce new features regularly to enhance your NCAtrak experience and serve children and families better.

    Coming in 2025, NCAtrak offers a new connection for iRecord users. When live, this new feature will allow NCAtrak users to access their iRecord recordings securely from directly within NCAtrak--no more need to import files. This feature is currently in a pilot testing phase with a CAC user group before rolling it out more broadly. 

    We are also in the planning stages for a calendar feature for MDT members to schedule forensic interviews and a referral system for MDT members to make referrals within NCAtrak. Expect more news in 2025...it's right around the corner.

    It’s all thanks to you, and it’s all on behalf of brighter futures for the children we serve. 
     

  • Executive Director Mental Health Academy Starts Soon, Register Today!

    By: Jami Bolton Jami Bolton , 6 months ago

    Join your CAC Executive Director (ED) colleagues for this exciting training opportunity. CAC EDs lead the charge for positioning CACs to meet NCA’s Mental Health Accreditation Standards. Many ED’s do not have a mental health background which can create challenges. NCA is excited to announce this training opportunity for EDs to learn about developing and sustaining high quality mental health programs at your CACs. 

  • E3 Info Call next week!

    By: Jami Bolton Jami Bolton , 7 months ago

    We are excited to announce that we will be offering Enhance Early Engagement (E3) Training for CAC Victim Advocates this fall! Interested to learn more about what E3 is, and how it will benefit your advocates, and CAC? Join us next Tuesday, September 18 at 2:00pm Eastern! Register here:  NCA Learning: Fall 2024 E3 Information Call (nationalchildrensalliance.org)

  • Submit an Abstract for Leadership Conference 2025!

    By: Rachael Novick Rachael Novick , 8 months ago

    National Children’s Alliance (NCA) is soliciting abstracts for presentations at the 2025 Leadership Conference, planned as a hybrid event June 9-11, 2025. The in-person conference will take place in Washington, DC. Abstracts will be considered if received by September 20, 2024. The target audience for this conference is comprised of administrators, coordinators, and board members of Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs), State Chapters, and multidisciplinary teams. We encourage presenters with expertise relevant to the target audience from diverse backgrounds to submit abstracts for presentations.

  • 3rd Annual Seamless Conference Early Bird Special Ending June 30th!

    By: Geoff Sidoli Geoff Sidoli , 10 months ago

    National Children’s Alliance (NCA) 3rd annual Seamless Conference will be held virtually on September 25 & 26, 2024.  Follow the link to learn more about this years line up that covers a variety of topics such as Sleep and Trauma in Children and Adolescents, Courtroom Psychology: How to Be a Good Witness and Survive in the Courtroom, Mental Health Ethics Are Boring: Change My Mind and More!

    Don't miss out on the Reduced price through June 30th!