The Stephanie V. Blank Center for Safe and Healthy Children is a child advocacy center that provides the following services in a safe, child-friendly environment staffed by a team of professionals with extensive pediatric experience:

• Comprehensive medical and forensic evaluations.
• Behavioral health assessment and counseling.
• Professional training.
• Community education and research.
• Collaborative partnerships within the community.
• Telemedicine and distance learning.

When you arrive at the center:

• You will be asked to complete a medical history for your child and provide insurance information.
• Our staff will answer your questions and explain the exam to you.

As you are meeting with the team, your child will:

• Meet with a child life specialist and patient care tech who will check your child’s height, weight, blood pressure and temperature.
• Have the opportunity to explore the medical exam room and equipment and be given choices of things to do during the exam.

Your child’s medical exam will be done by a doctor or a nurse practitioner who will take a close look at your child’s whole body, including his or her eyes, ears, mouth, stomach and genital area. The exam will be similar to a well visit at the pediatrician.

The Center for Safe and Healthy Children also offers:

• A child-friendly environment.
• A private waiting area.
• Personalized, age-appropriate exam education and preparation.
• Colposcopic exams using video camera equipment for detailed, high-quality photographic documentation.
• Recorded forensic interviews.
• Second-opinion consultations.
• Expert witness testimony.
• Referrals for counseling.

The Center for Safe and Healthy Children only sees patients by referral. Referrals may come from primary care physicians, other child advocacy centers, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) offices or law enforcement. We do not accept self-referrals.

If you do not have a referral from DFCS or law enforcement, please have your community medical provider complete this provider referral form  and return it to our office.

The Center for Safe and Healthy Children has two locations:

• Northside Professional Center (near Children’s Scottish Rite Hospital)
• Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• To make an appointment for a forensic medical exam only, call 404-785-3833.
• To make an appointment for commercial sexual exploitation of children cases and forensic interview-only cases, call 404-785-3854.
• Children’s Hughes Spalding Hospital
• Hours of operation: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Our Hughes Spalding Hospital location also offers medical clearance exams for children entering DFCS custody. We will accept walk-ins for these exams if a slot is available.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call:

• Scottish Rite Hospital, 404-785-3820
• Hughes Spalding Hospital, 404-785-9930

For prevention or education questions, call 404-785-5004. If you are a medical provider with specific questions regarding a patient, contact the Children’s Transfer Center at 404-785-7778 and request to speak to a child protection team clinician.

A combined effort

We work with different groups to provide a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach when investigating child abuse reports with Georgia authorities, including:

• National and Georgia law enforcement personnel.
• Georgia Child Protective Services.
• The legal system.
• Community abuse and neglect professionals.