2001 – 2006

2006 – 2012

2012 – 2023

From humble beginnings in a small house on Market Street, Carousel Child Advocacy Center has grown into a beacon of hope for child abuse survivors, now operating four locations across southeastern North Carolina.

In 1997, founder Gail McGirt, a registered nurse specializing in pediatric emergency care, attended North Carolina’s first Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner course. There, she learned children in southeastern NC faced wait times of 6-8 months for forensic evaluations—long enough for evidence to disappear and memories to fade. Determined to change this, Gail partnered with Dr. Sam Spicer and a team of dedicated professionals, forming a multidisciplinary collaboration that laid the foundation for Carousel.

By January 2000—years ahead of schedule—Carousel opened its doors, thanks to tireless volunteers and support from funders like the Kate B. Reynolds Foundation, Duke Endowment, Junior League of Wilmington, Cape Fear Memorial Foundation, and local government agencies. Initially operating on grants, Carousel ensured no child was ever turned away due to financial barriers.

In 2003, this group of women was honored with the YWCA Women of Achievement Award for the founding of the Carousel Center in 2000. Gail McGirt, Debra Church, Pierce Overman, Bea Schomp, Samantha Edwards Alsup, Betsy Rivenbark Kennedy, Denise Scearce, and Pat Laney — an RN, an attorney, a physician’s assistant, a social service administrator, an assistant district attorney, a child advocacy staff member, a Child Protective Services staff member and a child therapist, who all joined forces to create The Carousel Center.

Today, Carousel serves 400 children annually at its locations in Wilmington, Supply, Burgaw, and the Community Justice Center. Its impact is undeniable: stronger forensic evidence has led to increased perpetrator convictions, often sparing children from testifying in court.

Our kids deserve the best and brightest – Carousel has a team of 23, including nurse practitioners, therapists, forensic interviewers, and family advocates, Carousel collaborates with law enforcement, social services, healthcare providers, and schools to provide a seamless, victim-centered approach to healing. As the only accredited Child Advocacy Center in the region, Carousel remains dedicated to its mission—ensuring every child receives the justice, care, and support they deserve.

A full Forensic Interview, Child Medical Exam and a full course of trauma therapy, with family advocate services comes to about $5000 per child.

Together, we are working toward a world free from child abuse and neglect. Your support helps make that vision a reality, offering healing and hope to children who need it most.

Thank you for being a vital part of our journey over the past 25 years—and for helping to ensure that children continue to find healing, build resilience, and find justice at the Carousel Center for years to come.

Before 2000, and the opening of The Carousel Center, children who were victims of abuse were sent to their local emergency room where they were just one patient–usually in a sea of many.  They were expected to recount their abuse event(s) to multiple people at multiple locations.

This experience was both traumatic for the child and created a host of problems in the criminal investigation. They had to endure the frantic pace of emergency rooms, the unfamiliar stares of medical professionals, and frightening physical exams—all of this in addition to the trauma they had just experienced.  Importantly, hospitals in our area did not have the time, the specific equipment, or the trained certified staff to examine these critical cases. Evidence was either overlooked or compromised. This wasn’t a job for the standard emergency room physicians and nurses.

In January 2000, The Carousel Center opened its doors and has become an indispensable community resource to help child abuse survivors, their families, and investigative partners for justice, ultimately reducing the impact of trauma on child victims. By giving every child, and their families, who have experienced abuse the opportunity to resiliently heal, returning as close to a pre-abuse path of natural development as possible. The greatest hope and goal is to return the child to childhood.

Obtaining and documenting a child’s report of an alleged sexual and/or physical abuse incident is crucial- not only for prosecution purposes but also for healing and recovery. The goal is for each child to share what he/she can share at one time, in one place.

Carousel’s primary services are: child forensic interviews, NC-rostered child medical evaluations (CMEs), comprehensive family advocacy, and high-quality child trauma therapy for child victims & their non-offending adult caregivers. Carousel’s Trauma Therapy efforts provide quality therapy services for child victims, their (non-offending) adult caregiver(s), and their siblings.  Learn more about what we do here.

A successful Carousel means increases in child abuse investigations that lead to formal charges against an identified perpetrator, where evidence warrants, and increases in child abuse perpetrators being held criminally liable for their actions.  Child survivors will demonstrate health and well-being indicators (better school success, less physical/mental health symptomology, less juvenile justice engagement, stronger family units) when successfully engaged and graduated from treatment services.

In December 2015, The Carousel Center was first awarded accreditation by the National Children’s Alliance following an extensive application and site review process. As the accrediting agency for Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) across the country, the National Children’s Alliance awards various levels of accreditation and membership to centers responding to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient and put the needs of child victims of abuse first. Accreditation is the highest level of membership with the National Children’s Alliance and denotes excellence in service provision.

Accredited CACs must undergo a re-accreditation process every five years to ensure that best practices are continually being applied. The Carousel Center was re-accredited in 2020.  The national standards were revised in 2023, and Carousel once again was re-accredited in 2025.  Brunswick County office received its first accreditation in 2024.  The Pender office opened in 2024, accreditation is in process.  This commitment to compliance with the National Standards of Accreditation reflects The Carousel Center’s commitment to providing evidence-based methods of practice and demonstrates its dedication to quality.

National Children’s Alliance awards Accredited Membership based on a CAC’s compliance with 10 core national standards of accreditation to ensure effective, efficient, and consistent delivery of services to child abuse victims. Accredited Members must utilize a functioning and effective Multidisciplinary Team approach to work collaboratively in child abuse investigation, prosecution, and treatment. National Children’s Alliance also considers standards regarding a center’s cultural competency and diversity, forensic interviews, victim support and advocacy, medical evaluation, therapeutic intervention, and child-focused setting.

National Children’s Alliance is the national association and accrediting body for the 777 Children’s Advocacy Centers and 49 State Chapters serving each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Dedicated to helping local communities respond to allegations of child abuse in ways that are effective and efficient, and put the needs of child victims of abuse first, the National Children’s Alliance provides support and advocacy to its accredited membership, as well as numerous developing centers, multidisciplinary teams and child abuse professionals around the country, and the world. As the national authority on multidisciplinary approaches to supporting child victims of abuse, the purpose of the National Children’s Alliance is to empower local communities to provide comprehensive, coordinated, and compassionate services to victims of child abuse. Founded in 1990, the National Children’s Alliance provides accreditation opportunities, financial assistance, training, technical assistance, research, and education to communities, child abuse professionals, and children’s advocacy centers throughout the United States in support of child abuse intervention, advocacy, and prevention.