Advocacy Center celebrating 10th anniversary with open house
The Children’s Advocacy Center will host a 10th anniversary open house at their new facility, 503 W. Hwy. 243, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 7.
The new facility more than doubles the size of the previous offices and provides additional offices, counseling space, meeting and training space and a large volunteer work room.
Refreshments, including lunch, will be served.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at noon and the public is invited to attend.
The Children’s Advocacy Center of Van Zandt County started over 10 years ago with a vision to provide justice, hope and healing for abused children, center officials said. The agency received its nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service in August 2005 under the leadership of then Criminal District Attorney Leslie Dixon.
Several community agencies and their members joined Dixon to focus on successful prosecution of child abuse cases through the use of forensic interviews.
The CAC, based on a national model, utilizes a multi-disciplinary team to investigate child abuse allegations. Team members include the basics – Child Protective Services, law enforcement agencies and the criminal district attorney. Other team members include local mental health providers, juvenile services, Court Appointed Special Advocates, the East Texas Crisis Center, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners and probation departments.
The CAC currently provides forensic interviews, family advocacy and children’s therapy for a comprehensive model to ensure empowerment and healing after prosecution. They also provide community education to children in schools and professional education to teachers as mandated by the Texas Education Agency by utilizing the Stewards of Children training.
For more information, contact the Center at cac@etcable.net.
