The child advocacy centres have a model of a family advocate, who is the touch person they can connect with from the beginning, from the moment they walk in the door through to the trial. If that family connects with that family advocate, then that person can go to court. They often become the familiar face throughout the process and lessen the fear. It keeps consistency in terms of information about the system itself, and allows people, especially young people, to have a sense of security throughout the system. The idea of the family advocate is to change the interview process to one time telling their story from what was previously up to seven times telling their story, over and over again.
For a child, developmentally it's critical to have a single secure person for them to relate to and to be available at any point that testimony is given. Hopefully the recorded information goes forward rather than the child, but in the event that the child is asked to come to court, having that extra person is important. Having a special prosecutor who has child-relating skills is important, and also having child-friendly courts, where the child doesn't see the perpetrator.