Lynn M. Davis
President and CEO

"Imagine a woman just getting home after a quick lunch. Her cell phone rings and the voice on the other end of the line says, 'Mrs. Smith, this is Jamie from Child Protective Services. We are investigating an allegation of child abuse and we have picked up your eight year old daughter Brittany* from school. We need you to meet us at 3611 Swiss Avenue.'

Unfortunately, the type of call that I had you imagine is not imaginary. It happens thousands of times each year in Dallas County. In 2009 the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center provided interview services to nearly 1,500 children who were the victims of the most severe cases of child abuse. Almost 85% of these children were sexually abused and our average client is an 8 year old girl, just like Brittany, who has been abused by someone she knows and trusts.

Twenty years ago, abused children, like Brittany would have to tell their story many times to untrained professionals in less than ideal surroundings.

Now imagine Brittany being interviewed just one time by a trained interviewer in a comfortable, safe, child friendly environment.  The Dallas Children's Advocacy Center provides the interviewer, the comfortable environment and the safety so that Brittany does not have to relive these horrific acts over and over again.
We know that we are only seeing a fraction of the children who need our services, but unfortunately our current facility is woefully inadequate.

We'd like you to imagine a facility where all severely abused children in Dallas County could get the services they need - A facility where best practices don't have to be compromised due to the lack of space. With a new building we anticipate that the number of children we serve annually will double within three years and our services will continue to expand to meet our community's ever growing need."

* Name has been changed to protect the identity of our client

Irish Burch
Senior Director
of External Affairs

"I have thought long and hard about how I would explain our forensic interview process. I wondered how I would take such an amazing, highly specialized technique and explain it clearly…if I had to sum it up in one word, that one word would be "Connection". It is a person attempting to connect with a child on their level, in a short amount of time, and gain their trust in a manner that will provide them with the comfort to share their deepest, darkest secret. For those of us who have children, we all know how difficult this can be.

At our child friendly environment, children often come to us ashamed, embarrassed, broken, and silenced. They have not shared their story with anyone and to be honest, some have no intentions of ever speaking to the horrible things they have experienced.  In a forensic interview we build that bridge for children to walk across and lay down the tragedy that they have carried secretly for days, months, and sometimes even years.

As an interviewer, you are hoping that you have made enough of a connection for them to trust you. All this and it has been less than 15 minutes.  And then it happens, although hesitant at first, they begin to open up and share with you the things they swore they would never tell to another living soul.

Slowly they are releasing their burden that they have carried alone, in silence, for so long. I know then, it is the forensic interviewers' responsibility to reach across the table, pick it up, and now carry it in a manner that will begin their healing.

That is a forensic interview … the ability to help that child find their voice and speak out against what has been hurting them, even if it is someone they love. It provides the opportunity – maybe the only one – for a child to begin the transition from victim to survivor.

Debra Brennan Tagg
2010 Chairman of the Board

"My position with the Advocacy Center is a distinct honor and a humbling role. I generally consider myself to be a strong person But I look at Irish [forensic interviewer] and I know I'm not tough enough to do what she does. Never could be. I'm not tough enough to hear the details of these horrific crimes against children. With a dry eye, a compassionate face, and the strong presence that says 'you will be okay'.

Child abuse is not going away, but the perpetrators should. With the expertise of interviewers, like Irish, these children can tell the oftentimes gruesome details of their story just once. This evidence is used by our DA's office so effectively that the prosecution rates in Dallas County are higher than the national average. That's something we can all be proud of. But it's still not enough.

Surprisingly, we do not currently receive any county or city dollars except for rent that is paid by the Dallas Police Department to house their Child Abuse Unit. Our Center is funded through private contributions, state and federal dollars, through grants and events. In 2009 – a tough economic time across the board – we had our best fundraising year yet. And that reinforces for us that our mission is strong, our role is crucial, and our work is respected.

We are committed to our new facility. We will not allow children in our community to suffer alone through child abuse…just because of a small building.

The forensic interview is the foundation for our two strongest goals: it starts the healing of the child, and it provides evidence to get the perpetrators off the street.