NCA Engage: Rural Resource Hub

NCA Rural Resource Hub

Welcome to the Rural Resource Hub! NCA recognizes that rural communities have unique needs and CAC leaders are often serving multiple roles and time is a precious commodity. This Rural Resource Hub is the place for you to find resources for you and your team, all in one place: where you need it and when you need it. We want to ensure we provide the resources that are important to you. Reference this page often for Resources that can help you do your vital work.

Key Resource Topics Upcoming Meetups Your Member Benefits On-Demand Trainings

Rural CAC events: Get connected with other rural CACs

Here are a few ways to get connected to your peers and the movement right now.

You're invited to Member Connect Live! Join NCA Member Services Department in an open call with your peers during monthly calls with open discussions on your most pressing questions, common topics and much more. The 4th Wednesday of the month at 2:00pm the next call is July 23, 2025.
Join the Rural CAC Leaders Community - a rural specific place to ask questions and share resources right here in NCA Engage, NCA’s cutting edge professional social platform and e-learning management system.
Join our national, peer-led NCA's Collaborative Work Groups where you and other experts work to develop innovative projects that uplift the entire movement.
The Rural CAC Collaborative Work Group link to join is now open and recruiting members. The meeting notes, the next agenda and meeting link will go out one week prior to the next scheduled meeting on JULY 16, 2025, at 3:00 PM EST. As part of the National Children’s Alliance’s ongoing work to develop helpful tools and guidance to CACs on best practices and solutions. The Rural CAC Collaborative Work Group (CWG) meetings will be on the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 3:00-4:00 PM (EASTERN STANDARD TIME). This Rural CAC CWG will provide opportunities for conversation, collaboration, pilot-testing, and development of tactics, strategies, resources and tools, so that CACs within rural communities will become more fully equipped to serve children and families with the full array of CAC services regardless of their location. The link to join the Rural CWG will be emailed to individuals that sign up!
To add MDT members to your NCA Engage account - invite them to set up a New User Registration Form by visiting NCA Engage - Getting Started. During registration, they will be asked for your CAC Organizational ID number. Please use the number provided to you by the Executive Director of your organization or contact membership@nca-online.org if you need this number. (Google Chrome is the preferred browser to access NCA Engage.)

For more info and projects specific to Rural CACs and communities, contact Vanessa Stergios, Senior Program Associate, Special Projects at vstergios@nca-online.org

On-Demand Trainings

View our full collection of on-demand trainings specifically designed to meet the needs of CACs and their MDT partners.

Want to grant access to MDT partners?

To add MDT members to your NCA Engage account - invite them to set up a New User Registration Form by visiting NCA Engage - Getting Started. During registration, they will be asked for your CAC Organizational ID number. Please use the number provided to you by the Executive Director of your organization or contact membership@nca-online.org if you need this number. (Google Chrome is the preferred browser to access NCA Engage.)

NCA member benefits: Your one-stop shop

All of the NCA member-exclusive resources you're looking for plus, all the ones you didn't know you needed! This is your home for the most frequently accessed and requested resources exclusively for NCA members. Think of it as your one-stop-shop and FAQ page, where your questions pop off the page as tools you can use! If you're looking for your NCA Accredited Member Badge, the Brand Folder, access to sign up for our newsletters with fresh content on research and practice, and other resource emails, you've come to the right place! And if you're not finding what you need here, you can always get in touch with our membership department.

Access Your Benefits

Access your member resource pages

Get easy access to the in-demand NCA member resource pages with one click! Each page is designed to bring all of the information to you, related to a specific topic, quickly. View a few of our key resource pages, below. Additional resource pages can be found on the left of this page under Other Topics.

NCA Highlights - Engage, CWGs, Reports and Resources

National Children's Alliance - website- stay up to date on our work and key initiatives.

To access to the BrandFolder and your Accredited Member Badge please contact us at membership@nca-online.org to get your dedicated login for the Brandfolder and the Accredited Member Badge or logo.

NCA Learning Center: explore the e-learning section of NCA Engage! For NCA Institute for Better Mental Health Outcomes specific resources, click here.

Collaborative Work Groups (CWGs): Join our national, peer-led Collaborative Work Groups where you and other experts work to develop innovative projects that uplift the entire movement. Learn more and sign up.

One in Ten Podcast: Join us for episodes of NCA's podcast, where Teresa interviews the foremost experts working with you to solve the greatest challenge facing one in ten of our children: child abuse.

From the CEO's Desk Monday Newsletters: Receive the latest research happening in the world of child welfare every Monday to your inbox. Sign up on our website (bottom of page) or contact our membership department to subscribe at membership@nca-online.org.

CALiO: Child Abuse Library Online is a service of National Children’s Advocacy Center. Contact Digital Information Librarian, Muriel K. Wells for access - mwells@nationalcac.org

NCA/CAC Style Guide: Our CAC movement glossary, helping you find the right words to describe the complex ideas in our field.

NCA Survey and Census Data -NCA provides the CAC movement with comprehensive snapshots of CAC services, funding, and growth through its Member and Chapter Censuses. Done every two years, these surveys and corresponding reports provide information about strengths and trends in the field over time. Please see immediately below for our most recent Chapter Census - the State of State Chapters Report.

Grants - National Children's Alliance funds CACs, Multidisciplinary Teams, and State Chapters through its grants program to build capacity to serve children at the state and local levels. To learn more about our programs, to apply for funding when available, or to find resources to help you manage your existing grant, please click here.

Resources for CAC Communicators

NCA Communications Toolkit

CACs and Chapters do more than just serve kids; they're also the leading experts in their communities and states on how to respond to child abuse and heal the hurt. Just like legislative advocacy, grant writing, and other skills CAC and Chapter professionals need to succeed, communications, marketing, and PR are part of what your community expects from you and represent your best opportunity to build both broad and strategic support for your mission. Need help amplifying your voice? Please get in touch with our communications team at communications@nca-online.org.

Communication and Marketing Resources

Here are Communications and Marketing Resources for CAC and Chapter staff tasked with reaching out to a range of audiences, from internal staff and volunteers to grant makers and legislators. Access our Communications Toolkit for templates and other helpful resources. Then, if you haven’t already, join the Communications & Development Community to discuss everything communications, marketing, fundraising, and development with other professionals. NCA’s Communications team is part of the community, and it’s an easy way to contact us if you have questions or comments. Reach us directly at communications@nca-online.org

Regional Children's Advocacy Centers

Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers model, champion, and support the multidisciplinary response to child abuse intervention, by providing expertise, training and resources to improve outcomes for children and families affected by abuse.

The four Regional Children’s Advocacy Centers (RCACs) were established in the Victims of Child Abuse Act legislation in 1992 to provide training and technical assistance to child abuse professionals located within each U.S. Census region. Funding for the RCACs is managed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, a component of the Office of Justice Programs within the U.S. Department of Justice. Each RCAC provides trainings, technical assistance, and information services for developing and established multidisciplinary teams, local Children’s Advocacy Centers, and State Chapter organizations of Children’s Advocacy Centers within their region.

MIDWEST REGIONAL CAC NORTHEAST REGIONAL CAC SOUTHERN REGIONAL CAC WESTERN REGIONAL CAC

Public Policy Resources

See what strategies are working on the Hill and at the state level.

NCA is a powerful advocacy voice on Capitol Hill fighting for the dollars and policies kids deserve. Our Government Affairs experts, Denise Edwards and Will Laird, can answer your questions and help you develop individualized legislative advocacy strategies, as well as provide continued support in its implementation.

View the collection of resources from NCA and your Chapter peers, that contains various legislative tools to advocate for policies that will give us the funding we need as a movement:

See the Latest