Established in July 1991 the Advocacy Council for Abused Deaf Children (ACADC) has worked hard to improve system wide response to the needs of the abused deaf child, deaf parents, and adult deaf survivors of child abuse and deaf children/families at risk for abuse. At the time of it’s inception, the Advocacy Council was the only Child Abuse Council in the state of California to focus on the needs of the disabled and it has served as a model for other councils.

From the beginning, the Council has benefited from strong support form the Deaf community. Its by-laws require that the Council Chair be a deaf person. All council affairs are conducted in American Sign Language and voice. This strong support and inclusive philosophy has institutionalized a strong measure of cultural and linguistic competency.

Departing from the traditional peer consultation child abuse council format, the Advocacy Council developed a strategic plan in 1992, focusing on community education and systems advocacy. This initial planning effort helped identify key elements of culturally competent service for the Deaf that focused on American Sign Language proficiency and cultural awareness. It identified goals of lay and professional education about child abuse in the Deaf community and advocacy for culturally competent, specialized Child Protective Services and Dependency Court as its initial goals.