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Our History

The Granite State Children’s Alliance (GSCA) is the statewide chapter organization dedicated to putting the needs of New Hampshire’s child abuse victims first.

Accredited by the National Children’s Alliance, we operate four Child Advocacy Centers (CACs), directly serving children in Belknap, Cheshire and Hillsborough Counties. The GSCA also serves as the New Hampshire Chapter of the National Children’s Alliance, providing technical assistance, training, and organizational resources to all Child Advocacy Centers in the Granite State.  We are a non profit, 501 (c) 3 organization.

Here is a brief overview of New Hampshire’s Child Advocacy Center Movement.

  • New Hampshire’s efforts to better coordinate child abuse investigations date back to 1983, when the New Hampshire State Senate established a committee to study the State’s child protection system.
  • Recommendations from that committee led to the creation of the Attorney General’s Task Force on Child Abuse, which would ultimately inspire the creation of New Hampshire’s first Child Advocacy Center, the Child Advocacy Center of Rockingham County in 2000.
  • With the CAC of Rockingham County providing a successful model, Governor Craig Benson issued an executive order in July, 2003 to establish the Governor’s Commission for Child Protection.
  • In November, 2003, that Commission issued its findings and recommended the development of a statewide network of Child Advocacy Centers.
  • Governor Benson and Attorney General Peter Heed then secured funding to help establish CACs in every county of the State, with the funding for each Center phasing down over a period of 5 years.
  • From 2004 through 2009, County CACs open across the Granite State.  Beginning in Hillsborough County in 2004, Belknap County in 2006, Cheshire County in 2007 following the Rockingham County model as non-profit organizations.
  • The NH Network of Child Advocacy Centers becomes a non profit organization in 2010 serving as the Chapter.
  • The initial funding from the State of NH to expand and create community CACs decreases over time, leading to a critical shortage of operational funding for Cheshire County and Belknap County.
  • In 2012, the Granite State Children’s Alliance is created to keep CACs open in Keene and Laconia, with funding support from the NH Network of CACs and Hillsborough County CAC, a merger of non-profits occurred.
  • Today, New Hampshire has 100 percent coverage with a CAC in every county, two in Hillsborough County.
  • We continue to innovate and expand, creating KNOW & TELL, a mandated reporter training in 2016 and a Behavioral Health Program providing mental health treatments to children after a forensic interview in 2020.