Jessie's Place - Citrus Country Child Advocacy Center

What is a Child Advocacy Center?

Jessie’s Place is a child-friendly facility, based in Citrus County, Fla., that functions as a central location to coordinate all needed services for unfortunate children who have been abused or neglected.

Jessie’s Story

Jessie’s Place is named in memory of Jessica Lundsford, a young, Citrus County, Fla. girl whose 2005 death drew nationwide attention and sympathy.

The facility honors young Jessica by helping protect Citrus County children from abuse and neglect.

Jessie’s place also alleviates their painful life events and offers them hope.

Why Jessie’s Place?

Without a Children’s Advocacy Center like Jessie’s Place, the services an abused and/or neglected child receives are delivered in piecemeal. Often, he or she is intimidated by multiple interviews from many different adults at many different locations. The intimidation brought on by this system can also contribute to a high level of factual errors.

Jessie’s Place centers the care around the child; instead of the child around the care. Interviews are held only once and are performed in an environment especially designed to be warm, inviting and kid-friendly.

Our history. Our future.

The idea for Citrus County Children’s Advocacy Center bloomed from a community meeting, held April 2005, which focused on a national trend towards child-oriented, victim sensitive methods for delivering services to abused children. Over the following months and years, countless volunteers came together to create the center, known as Jessie’s Place.

Jessie’s Place provides a kid-focused approach to child abuse care through the coordination of professional and specialty agency services.

Board of Directors

Citrus County Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. incorporated as private, non-profit, 501(C)(3) corporation on August 16, 2006. The fictitious name of Jessie’s Place was registered for use by the corporation on August 3, 2007. The facility is managed and operated by a Board of Directors.