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The CCRC is concerned with children and adolescents, from birth through age 17, and all their crime? victimizations, both within and outside the family, both known and unknown to law enforcement.?
These include:

• Criminal acts as defined by law, such as sexual assault, abduction, theft, robbery, and aggravated? assault against children
• Child abuse in all its forms--physical, sexual, emotional--and child neglect
• Child-to-child violence, such as peer and sibling assaults, which would be considered criminal if? the parties were adults
• Indirect victimization, where children witness or are affected by the crime victimization of a family member or friend

Children and adolescents have among the highest rates of conventional crime victimization and,?
in addition, suffer from some crimes like sexual abuse and family abduction specific to childhood.?
Despite enormous publicity about crime and youth, however, this high vulnerability is seldom mentioned.?
The disproportionate number of youthful offenders is much more widely recognized than the?
disproportionate number of victims.

• Youth 12-17 are two to three times more likely than adults to be the victims of an assault, robbery,? or rape, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey¹
• Nearly half of all rape victims are girls under the age of 18²
• Child protection agencies substantiate more than one million cases of child maltreatment annually³
• Children are three times more likely than adults to be seriously assaulted by members of their families⁴
• Children are subject to crimes not suffered by adults, such as child neglect, molestation, and family abduction

Crimes against children also deserve special attention because of their different and potentially more severe consequences

• The large number of crimes perpetrated against children by family members threatens? the crucial formative environment of childhood by disrupting and distorting important? family relationships
• Victimization can derail normal, healthy child development. It can affect personality formation, ?have long-term mental health consequences and impact academic performance
• Research has consistently shown that exposure to crime and violence places children at risk ?for serious delinquency
• Because of their dependency, children can suffer irreparably when parents are traumatized by ?crime victimization and domestic violence

1 Hashima & Finkelhor (1999)
2 Kilpatrick (1992)
3 NCANDS (1998)
4 Straus & Gelles (1980)

The Crimes against Children Research Center proposes four primary goals to comprise a comprehensive?and feasible policy for child victims within the criminal justice system.

• Greater recognition of the extent of victimization among the children who come within the purview? of the justice system by improved history taking, assessment, record keeping, and exchange of information
• Enhanced protection of child crime victims from continued victimization and from unnecessary ?trauma and discomfort associated with the workings of the justice system
• Universal rehabilitation of child crime victims through services and programs to aid in recovery? and minimize long term effects on development
• Greater public accountability by evaluating the impact of the justice system's policies and? programs on children

The investigation and prosecution of crimes involving children and adolescents pose special challenges for law enforcement--problems related to the immaturity of children, their vulnerability to intimidation,? the prejudices of judges and juries, and the frequent involvement of family members as perpetrators.

The justice system has contact with juvenile victims in five main contexts, sometimes explicitly in the? role of victim and sometimes in other roles:

• Young crime victims whose testimony is crucial in criminal investigations and prosecutions, including? sexually and physically assaulted and abducted children, as well as children who witness domestic and street crimes
• Victims of child abuse and neglect involved in child protection actions
• Children exposed to domestic violence or family abductions, whose parents are involved with the ?criminal justice system
• Juvenile criminal offenders, who frequently have histories of crime and abuse victimization
• Juvenile status offenders, who also tend to have histories of crime and abuse victimization

The passage of young victims through the justice system at these various levels provides opportunities to ?identify them and provide them with help. The CCRC is committed to develop knowledge that will? assist the creation of appropriate programs and policies for these young people.

CCRC projects are funded by grants from government agencies & private organizations. These include:

• Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Endowment for Health
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
• National Children's Alliance
• National Science Foundation
• U.S Department of Justice
• NIJ
• Office for Victims of Crime
• Office of Justice Programs
• Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention