The Capital Area Crisis
Response Team (CACRT) is a partnership of volunteers from
the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Suburban
Maryland dedicated to providing crisis intervention
services to communities coping with the stressful effects
of traumatic events. To accomplish this goal, CACRT
promotes public awareness and education, trains
volunteers in crisis response, and provides direct
assistance to victims and survivors of traumatic
events.
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The Capital Area Crisis
Response Team (CACRT) was established in 1993 as a
private, nonprofit organization, qualified under
Internal Revenue Service regulation 501(c)(3), of
volunteer crisis intervenors, educators, victim
assistance specialists, and allied professionals, who
volunteer their time and talents to assist individuals
and communities in the District of Columbia
metropolitan area including Suburban Maryland and
Northern Virginia. CACRT is committed to meeting the
emotional needs of traumatized victims of disasters and
crime without discrimination based upon race, creed,
gender, sexual orientation, age, or economic
background. CACRT pledges that victims should never
need to stand alone.
CACRT consults with and
provides training for groups that want to establish
their own local community- or institution-based crisis
response efforts. It also helps the general public
understand the psychological effects of and appropriate
response to trauma through ongoing education and public
awareness initiatives.
Membership is available to
professionals in the victim assistance, mental health,
education, and criminal justice fields; victims; and
other concerned members of the community. By drawing on
the varied professional expertise and personal
experiences of people throughout the region, CACRT
offers local communities access to a broad range of
intervention and referral services. CACRTâs
orgnization and crisis intervention strategies are
based on a widely-accepted model of crisis response
developed by the National Organization
for Victim Assistance.
Members are invited to
attend all business meetings and training opportunities
presented by CACRT free of charge. Many members qualify
to volunteer as crisis intervenors to assist CACRT in
assisting other organizations responding to crimes and
disasters. Members also receive a quarterly newsletter
as well as information about upcoming
events.
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