Gulf Coast Children's Advocacy Center
Child Protection Team
700 W 23rd Street, Building E, Suite 40
Panama City, FL 32405
(850) 872-4726
Medical Director: Ingrid J. Rachesky, MD
Team Coordinator: Natalie Justin
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The Child Protection Team for District 02AA is located at the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC), a not for profit organization, and covers the counties of Bay, Calhoun, Holmes, Gulf, Jackson, and Washington. Our main office is located in Panama City. We have two satellites offices, one located in Marianna and the other located in Bonifay. We conduct on-site interviews in Gulf County via a digital cam recorder. We hope in the near future to have a satellite office in Gulf County. We are currently working with the Gulf County Commission and Gulf Sheriff’s office in this endeavor. We are extremely lucky to have five pediatricians on board to conduct medical examinations. Two (one of which is our Medical Director) located in Bay County, one Gulf County, one in Holmes County, and one in Jackson County. We also contract with a psychologist and an attorney.

Our Team currently consists of the following: a Medical Director, a Team Coordinator, a Senior Case Coordinator, 7 Case Coordinators, a Medical Transcriptionist, a Program Assistant (Data Entry), a Program Specialist, a Program Assistant, 2 Family Advocates, and a Kid’s Court Coordinator. Our Medical Director, Team Coordinator, and an on-call case coordinator can be reached 24 hours 7 days a week.

Our Team uses a multidisciplinary approach for the protection of the children. We work closely with the Department of Children & Families (DCF), the different law enforcement (LE) agencies in our counties, Life Management Center (LMC), and our State’s Attorney’s Office.

Our Team provides forensic or specialized interviews with the children, which are recorded to digital DVD. We offer specialized interviews with the non-offending parent(s). We also offer medical examinations, medical consults, psychosocials, and psychologicals.

Our Team conducts daily staffings which are attended by CAC, DCF, LE, LMC, and CPT, to review every report called into Bay County. We conduct weekly multi-agency staffings to discuss each case and any recommendations. We conduct full-team staffings when requested by DCF or LE, and when we run into a chronic case. We also provide expert testimony in dependency and criminal courts. We provide training to DCF, LE, and the community. Our Medical Director offers training to DCF, LE, and the medical community.