About Us

The Louisiana Alliance of Children’s Advocacy Centers is a state chapter organization that supports Children’s Advocacy Centers in Louisiana.

We provide training, technical support, and advocacy on issues impacting Children’s Advocacy Centers. Children’s Advocacy Centers are child-friendly facilities designed to coordinate services for children who have experienced a crime, such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neglect.

Our vision is for every child in Louisiana, regardless of their background or where they live, to have access to high-quality care.

Our Values

  • Integrity

    We are committed to implementing policies and practices that ensure transparency, accountability, authenticity, and high ethical standards.

  • Growth

    We believe in accessibility to all CAC services to those in need. We strive to increase the capacity of both LACAC and local organizations to serve Louisiana.

  • Advocacy

    We provide a collective voice for CAC's by engaging with decision-makers and advocates for laws/policies that benefit children and families in Louisiana.

  • Excellence

    We aim to create a culture of quality by modeling continuous improvement systems internally and externally. We use evidence-based practices and data-driven programs to ensure the utmost care is given to Louisiana’s children and families.

  • Collaboration

    We believe in the power of relationships: we are committed to building and sustaining relationships to foster cohesiveness within the CAC network and externally with our partners to improve outcomes for children.

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Our Team

Krystle Mitchell

KRYSTLE MITCHELL
Executive Director

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Linsey Courville

LINSEY COURVILLE
LCYTC Project Specialist

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Leander Johnson

LEANDER JOHNSON
Grants & Subcontracts Manager

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Miranda Cirtwell

MIRANDA CIRTWELL
Finance Director

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Mary Hudson

MARY HUDSON
Program Director

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Jasmine Gardner

JASMINE GARDNER
Director of Care Coordination

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Krystle Mitchell serves as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Alliance of Children's Advocacy Centers In her role, Krystle is responsible for the management of daily operations and programming of LACAC. She works to empower CAC’s across Louisiana to better serve victims and families, increase access to quality training, develop statewide resources, and provide support for CAC’s to achieve and maintain national accreditation standards.

Krystle attended Alcorn State University (ASU) and has over a decade of experience working with children and families. Of those experiences, the most rewarding are her time in the non-profit sector at the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence and the South Mississippi Children's Advocacy Center. Most notably during her time at SMCAC, Krystle held various roles from a Child and Family Advocate in which she supported families who experienced trauma and abuse. She later advanced to the MDT Facilitator and finally to Director. During her tenure, the SMCAC grew in capacity from 4 staff members to 16 as well as expanded services to include a satellite office in a rural community. Krystle oversaw the day-to-day operations working with staff to care for the needs of individuals served by the center. She was also instrumental in grant preparation and reporting as well as building and sustaining relationships with the public and community leaders. She helped to promote and deliver education and awareness initiatives for the community that focus on essential programming particularly involving abuse, violence, and human trafficking.

Krystle is a native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She walks every day in her God-given purpose to live out the values of the LACAC organization and fulfill her goal of assisting others in their fight against interpersonal violence.

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Linsey B. Courville was the Regional Child and Youth Trafficking Coordinator at Hearts of Hope and worked improving the care for victims of human trafficking. She received her Bachelors degree in 2017 from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in a double major of Psychology and Criminal Justice. In 2019, she completed her Masters degree at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Criminal Justice with an emphasis on juvenile justice and sexual violence. For the past three years, Linsey has worked in her current role, creating a multidisciplinary team response to human trafficking victims in the Acadiana area. She has worked with and advocated for many children and youth victims of human trafficking. She started the first Human Trafficking Care Coordination team in the region to focus on providing care to these victims from a Multidisciplinary preceptive. Linsey’s passion is to empower victims, raise awareness about trafficking, and improve the response to serving these individuals in the state of Louisiana.

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Mr. Leander Johnson the Grants and Subcontracts Manager. Leander has over 30 years of experience working within Non-for-Profit agencies. His professional background includes Business Director with Catholic Charities, overseeing its Padua Division; Program Director for Volunteers of America; Vice-President of Operations for Methodist Home; CEO of Boys and Girls Town of New Orleans; and Business Manager for local churches providing fiscal management and overseeing budgets. In his capacity as an executive-level administrator, he was responsible for annual budgets exceeding 7.5 million.

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Miranda Cirtwell serves as the Finance Director of the Louisiana Alliance of Children’s Advocacy Centers. She received a Bachelor's degree from Excelsior University in Albany, New York in Business Management. She has several years of professional accounting and finance experience, while also being a licensed financial professional. Since moving to Louisiana at the start of 2022 Miranda has been focused on taking her experience from the For-Profit business sector and applying it to the Not-for-Profit world. Most recently as the Account Manager for the St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce as well as volunteering her time and skills to other North Shore area nonprofit's such as Northshore Robotics. Miranda’s passion is helping people and families from all walks of life, which has driven her to join this team to help support the values and mission of the LACAC organization to fulfill that purpose.

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Mary K. Moore-Hudson serves as the Program Director of the Louisiana Alliance of Children's Advocacy Centers. In her role, Mary supports the Executive Director in the management of daily operations and programming of LACAC. She will work to empower CACs across Louisiana to better serve victims and families, increase access to quality training, develop statewide resources, and provide support for CACs to achieve and maintain national accreditation standards.

Mary received her Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Southern University at New Orleans. She is currently enrolled in the Masters of Social Work Program also at Southern University in New Orleans. Mary has over a decade of experience working with children and families. Mary credits Southwest Mississippi Children’s Advocacy Center, Mississippi Dept of Child Protection Services, and Dept of Human Services for cultivating her passion for advocating for families and children. Most notably during her time at SWMSCAC, Mary held the role as Victim and Family Advocate in which she supported families and victims in the Southwest Region of the Mississippi by connecting and providing services that promote stability and healing for those that experienced trauma and abuse.

Mary is a proud native of New Orleans, LA. She is a wife, mother, Christian, and an advocate for families and children. Mary believes she has been called to and is passionate about family advocacy. Her goal is to assist in the development of Louisiana Children’s Advocacy Centers staff by providing a listening ear and helping hand in service delivery to children and families across Louisiana.

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Jasmine serves as the Director of Care Coordination for the Louisiana Alliance of Children’s Advocacy Centers. In her new role, she provides supervision to the Act 662/LCYTC Project staff. She also provides support and technical assistance to Care Coordination teams throughout the state of Louisiana. Jasmine has a wealth of knowledge from her previous role as a forensic interviewer and MDT Facilitator at Child Advocacy Services Children’s Advocacy Center in Hammond, LA, where she spent over five and a half years advocating for the voiceless in her community.

Jasmine is a native of Franklinton, La. She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Southeastern Louisiana University in May 2016 and her master’s degree in social work from Stephen F. Austin State University in May 2017.

Besides her professional achievements, Jasmine is a wife and mother to a beautiful baby girl and a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She also serves as the board secretary for the National Association of Social Workers Louisiana Chapter and is a member of Greenfield Missionary Baptist Church. During her spare time, Jasmine enjoys singing, shopping, and spending time with family and friends.

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Our Board of Directors

Erika Dupepe
Board President

Julie Olsen
Vice President

Ashley Rubin
Secretary

Anna Grimmett
Treasurer

Bernadette Pickett
Member

Justin Duplechin
Member

April Lucia
Member

Adam Rivette
Member

Leisa Lawson
Member

Andree Mattix
Member

Kimberly Young
Member

Donald Hodge
Member-at-Large

Aelania Auzenne
Member