About CALiO™

The Child Abuse Library Online (CALiO™) is a service of the National Children’s Advocacy Center developed as a resource collection for professionals working in fields associated with child abuse. Since its launch in 2004, CALiO™ has provided authoritative resources that contribute to evidence-based practice, informed decision making, and more effective services.

Read about CALiO™'s history and its impact upon the child maltreatment field in this May 2025 article from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.  

Twenty Years of Research-Informed Practice through the Child Abuse Library Online (CALiO™)

How can CALiO™ help you? View the video below to find out from some CALiO™ users.

CALiO™ users testimonials

CALiO™ is one of the largest professional resource collections available today, providing access to published knowledge, educational materials, and resources related to child maltreatment.

Since 2014, CALiO™ has greatly expanded its services to professionals beyond the Children’s Advocacy Center community. The expanded CALiO™ Collections offers open access to high-quality information resources for professionals who work in social services, healthcare organizations, law enforcement, youth services and private practice across the U.S. and around the world, combatting child maltreatment.

The Child Abuse Library Online (CALiO™) can help you work smarter and faster. How? CALiO™ provides a comprehensive collection of research literature, databases, statistical references, how-tos and much more in one easy-to-use location.

Many of the resources in CALiO™ are available only to the staff and multidisciplinary (MDT) team members of Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC) within the United States and its territories, CAC State Chapter staff, and VOCAA partner staff. However, a growing collection of resources called CALiO™Collections is freely accessible to healthcare professionals, law enforcement personnel, prevention professionals, educators, and others who are not associated with the agencies listed above. Several thousand publications are freely available from the CALiO™ homepage search box, as well as the boxes and tabs located on the homepage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Where is the login to access CALiO™'s subscription based resources?

A: The login box is located at the top right corner of the CALiO™ homepage.

Q: How can I set up a CALiO™ account?

A. Professional staff from children's advocacy centers based in the United States and their multidisciplinary team members, State Chapters within the United States and its territories, Tribal Nations within the borders of the United States, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA) partnerships are eligible for access. Please see our How to Register for a CALiO™ User Account page for the full description of requirements and link to the registration form. 

Q: I forgot my username. How can I log in?

A: You may use the email you entered to register for your account.

Q: I forgot my password. How can I get this?

A. OpenAthens will facilitate providing forgotten passwords. The CALiO™ librarians no longer have access to this information in user accounts.  Please refer to the OpenAthens Account Management page.      

Q: What does it mean when I see the word “Embargo” following a journal title?

A: “Embargo” is imposed by some journal publishers. This means that the articles are not available electronically through this institution’s subscription for a period of time after publication. The embargo period varies among journal publishers and journals. Embargo periods are usually 6 months, 12 months, or 18 months after print publication. Contact the librarians for newer articles.

Q: Is my CALiO™ login also used for the NCAC Virtual Training Center (NCACvtc)?

A. No. The NCACvtc is a separate product from CALiO™ and the logins are different. Anyone may set up an account to access the free online trainings from NCACvtc.

The Child Abuse Library Online (CALiO™) provides information on this site, and in response to specific requests, for educational purposes only. The information provided by CALiO™ is not a substitute for professional counseling, legal advice, qualified social service or the advice of a professional healthcare provider. The health information available on this site complements and does not replace the relationship that exists between you and those professionals.

The NCAC’s CALiO™ wants you to learn as much as possible about issues involving child abuse and neglect and wants your online visit to be safe and secure. We take your privacy very seriously. Only those online visitors who expressly request information and services will receive e-mail communications or any other materials from CALiO™.

Information provided to the CALiO™ librarian is held in strictest confidence, within the parameters defined by law. CALiO™ may use cookies to assist with navigation and searching on this site. These cookies are temporary; present only during your visit.

If you submit information using forms on this site, or by e-mail, telephone or postal mail, CALiO™ will only use personally-identifiable information in response to your request. However, if it is deemed appropriate, your request for information may be referred to another NCAC professional who is in a better position to respond. Aggregated data concerning use of this site and CALiO™ may be used to track trends and plan more effective services.

CALiO™  makes every effort to ensure that the information provided on this site is correct and complete; and endeavors to provide the highest quality information resources and professional library services. However, the NCAC is not responsible for the accuracy of published information or the content of resources available in its collections and offers no guarantee of the comprehensiveness or accuracy of the services and resources available. CALiO™ endeavors to link to useful external websites, but has no control over the accuracy of information or delivery of services from those sites.

You are responsible for your activities and conduct while on this site, and for the use of any information obtained from CALiO™. You agree that the NCAC and its affiliated entities, agents and employees are not liable for damages, costs or expenses (including attorney fees) that you may incur as a result of your access to or use of information obtained from CALiO™.

The National Children’s Advocacy Center is committed to the accessibility of its electronic and information technologies for individuals with disabilities by meeting the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 508 requires that individuals with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to those who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on us. More information on Section 508 can be found at www.section508.gov.

If you have feedback or concerns related to the accessibility of this webpage and resources contained within it, please contact Muriel Wells via email at mwells@nationalcac.org or phone at 256-327-3854.

Some of the resources available on the CALiO website require Username and Password for access. These are subscription journals and databases governed by contractual licenses with the publishers. Just as the library of a university limits access to its core clientele (students, faculty, staff), access to CALiO subscription resources is similarly limited.

CALiO™ has partnered with OpenAthens and EBSCO to streamline authentication for CALiO™ users. OpenAthens is an identity and access management service and will allow users to register and login as is standard for most online accounts. OpenAthens will facilitate registering individual user accounts as well as Forgot Login credentials.

CALiO™ registered user accounts and access will no longer be shared throughout an agency or chapter. Child Advocacy Center (CAC) staff and multidisciplinary team (MDT) members may apply for their own unique, individual login.  The registration form can be accessed here.

Although the process to register for access to CALiO™ is changing, the criteria has remained the same. Only professional staff from CACs based in the United States and their MDT members, State Chapters within the United States and its territories, Tribal Nations within the borders of the United States, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA) partnerships are eligible for access.  Developing CACs are not eligible. Support for developing CACs is available through its corresponding Regional CAC and State Chapter.

Registering for a CALiO™ account does not guarantee access. Users must submit the completed registration form and consent to the user agreement, which will be reviewed for eligibility. If eligible, the user will receive an account activation email from OpenAthens within five (5) business days of form submission. The email will contain a username and instructions to create a password.  Once the account is established, you will be able to login using your email or your username.

Users will need to authenticate their CALiO™ account on a yearly basis to confirm eligibility requirements. Reminder emails from OpenAthens will be sent to users thirty (30) days before and after the anniversary of the initial activation date to confirm the user's eligibility status. Failure to reauthenticate a Ca account will result in the account being suspended, or, possibly, terminated and disrupting access to resources.

Questions about user accounts, registration and reauthentication should be directed to calio@nationalcac.org.

The email address used to register for the account can be substituted as a username. OpenAthens will facilitate obtaining forgotten passwords. The CALiO™ librarians no longer have access to this information in user accounts. Please use this link to be directed to the OpenAthens accounts management page.