ESCANABA — This past Saturday, the second Amazing Race, hosted by the Delta Regional Child Advocacy Center (DRCAC), sent two-person teams on a mission to follow clues, perform unique and unusually fun feats, and explore and discover new experiences and personal challenges — all while raising money for child advocacy services in Delta County.

This year’s event celebrated a change in structure and leadership for DRCAC. The Northern Michigan Alliance for Children (NMAC) has served as the original founding partner of DRCAC. A dedicated multidisciplinary team of Delta County professionals — including the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, law enforcement, Child Protective Services, and medical and mental health providers — have together with NMAC built a program that works to provide child-centered collaborative services to the suspected victims of child sexual abuse. In this time of crisis for children and families, there is a coordinated team of professionals trained in the protocol of forensic interviewing and victim services to help families move from trauma to healing.

Now that this multidisciplinary team model has been implemented, the time has come for a team of Delta County regional stakeholders to continue this initiative without the guidance of NMAC. NMAC will assist this new team of Delta County stakeholders as they work to establish even stronger local impact on this national model.

The Northern Michigan Alliance for Children wants to thank its community partners for their help bringing healing, hope, and justice to the abused children that have come through its doors. The Delta County stakeholders will be sharing their vision for how they will implement the team approach to investigating child abuse and victim advocacy in the near future.

In light of the transition, NMAC is proud to announce that the Amazing Race for Child Advocacy was hosted in partnership with the Community Foundation for Delta County. The proceeds will be placed in a restricted fund, dedicated to the provision of child/adolescent sexual abuse investigative and intervention services.