Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Protection Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners defer $50,000 commitment for Children’s Advocacy Center; amendment to specify opioid-abatement funds wins support
Summary
The commission heard that forensic interviews of child victims are required by Tennessee law and that the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) is needed for prosecutions. A resolution to commit $50,000 for FY 2026 was amended to specify opioid-abatement funds as the source, then deferred to the budget committee for formal consideration.
A resolution to place $50,000 in next year’s budget for the Children’s Advocacy Center drew discussion Wednesday about funding sources and the role the center plays in criminal prosecutions of child abuse.
The commission was told that Tennessee law requires forensic interviews of child victims to be conducted by trained forensic interviewers and that the county’s law-enforcement agencies rely on the CAC to perform those interviews. “When a child is interviewed, it has to be done by a forensic interviewer, and that's what the Children's Advocacy Center does,” the sheriff said during committee discussion.
Commissioner Carter brought the resolution to the floor asking that the commission include $50,000 for the CAC in the fiscal 2026 budget. Commissioners questioned whether the appropriation should be handled now or during the normal budget process. Committee members agreed to amend the resolution to identify the funding source as opioid-abatement settlement funds; the amendment passed on a recorded vote. After further discussion, the full commission voted to defer final action to the budget committee for consideration during the formal budget process.
County staff and several commissioners noted the CAC had previously been funded in prior years but that funding had shifted to other programs (including the Family Justice Center) in recent budgets. The sheriff and committee members emphasized that the CAC’s forensic interviews are essential for prosecutions and that prosecutors and law enforcement are frequent users of the center’s services.
Director of Finance Mitch Meredith said the appropriate account code for the proposed contribution would be recorded under account 316 ‘‘Contributions’’ and that staff would formalize the resolution language to reflect the opioid-abatement funding source before a final vote.
The commission’s deferral sends the $50,000 request back to the budget committee for placement and consideration in the FY 2026 budget; no final appropriation was made at the meeting.
