Children’s Assessment Center

Project Description

ARPA funds support the Children’s Assessment Center (CAC) in addressing child abuse in Harris County through five projects that will help improve processing times and reduce client backlog, while continuing to offer treatment free of charge to thousands of children each year. The projects include a digital conversion project that facilitates conversion of 34,500 VHS tapes of client stories to a digital format and allows for indexing of videos, which are used as evidence in criminal cases. Funds also support the purchase of medical equipment used to gather evidence during exams. Two mental health clinicians were hired to implement single-session modality therapy and reduce client wait-time. ARPA-funding further allows for enhanced training of the CAC’s mental health professionals. Two ARPA-funded trainers were hired to expand community prevention training and have increased the number of training sessions offered, as well as the number of schools, faculty, and students receiving training. In criminal abuse cases, CAC staff reviews videos of victim testimony; the digital capture project preserves evidence, improves accessibility, and improves ability of staff to testify in court. Increased processing efficiency allows staff to work through the backlog of over 3,000 criminal abuse cases more quickly. The purchase of new equipment is expected to reduce client wait time for medical services and subsequent gathering of evidence. The CAC will offer single session therapy for victims of child abuse, potentially serving up to 1,200 clients annually with new staffing.

Mental health and community prevention training will impact court backlog by preventing future negative outcomes for those already victimized and preventing future cases from occurring through awareness and education. Digital conversion impact will be measured by the number of VHS tapes converted, number of cases reviewed that previously were on VHS, and case backlog with the District Attorney’s Office. Additionally, the number of exams performed at the CAC’s medical center will be tracked. A Single session therapy method and mental health training metrics will include numbers of clients on a waitlist and sessions performed. The number of school training sessions conducted and the number of disclosures after school training will also be collected.

PRIMARY PARTNERSHIPS

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The Children’s Assessment Center strives to increase public awareness of child sexual abuse through outreach and prevention and frequently makes presentations to schools, civic organizations, religious organizations, and other social service agencies. Staff provide extensive community outreach, including educational programs, community and professional training, and expert court testimony.

TARGET IMPACT

Primary metrics to be tracked include:

  • Number of VHS tapes converted (targeting 945 VHS tapes converted per month, beginning in May 2023)
  • Number of VHS review requests
  • Number of cases in backlog with the District Attorney’s Office
  • Number of medical exams performed
  • Number of single-session therapy clients on the waitlist
  • Number of single-session therapy sessions performed (targeting 75 single-session modality sessions performed by ARPA-funded clinicians per month, beginning in June 2023)
  • Number of overall clinical assessments
  • Number of mental health clients on the waitlist
  • Number of mental health sessions performed
  • Number of school training sessions conducted (targeting increase in number of sessions offered and expansion into new schools and districts; training currently is occurring in schools located in the Spring ISD)
  • Number of disclosures or reporting after school trainings

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