Since its opening, DNLCC has acquired a national reputation for ground-breaking excellence.

• DNLCC was the first Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) in South Carolina and has aided the development of other centers across the state and nation.
• DNLCC is a charter member of the National Children’s Alliance, the accrediting body for Children’s Advocacy Centers.
• DNLCC is one of only four sites in the nation to participate in a national evaluation of Children’s Advocacy Centers funded by the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
• DNLCC’s intervention model for child abuse victims has been selected as a best practice treatment in guidelines developed by the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center.
• DNLCC’s school-based prevention program was selected by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network as a model to be replicated throughout the nation. Currently, DNLCC is working to share the model with Children’s Advocacy Centers in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.
• The Duke Endowment is working with DNLCC to develop outcome measurements to determine the effectiveness of Children’s Advocacy Centers.
• DNLCC’s prevention guide, Children Can’t Protect Themselves, It’s Your Job, has been distributed nationally via Children’s Advocacy Centers and is being translated into Spanish.
• Articles regarding the program and practices developed and used at the DNLCC have been published in professional journals such as Child Abuse and Neglect and Child Maltreatment.
• The Center's Executive Director, Dr. Ralston has provided expert testimony in family, criminal, civil, federal and military courts across the United States. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Children’s Alliance and was awarded the organization’s highest honor, the Bud Cramer Award in 2006. In 2007, Dr. Ralston was South Carolina's recipient of the prestigious Commissioner's award from the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Through the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, DNLCC has joined with the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center to facilitate a learning collaborative among CACs to increase the use of evidence - based mental health practices.
• With generous support from The Duke Endowment, DNLCC and the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center are leading a pilot project to introduce the use of evidence-based mental health treatments for child abuse victims to four communities in South Carolina.