Child Advocacy Center reports 74 children served in 2024, tells Titus County commissioners rising costs pushed a 5% contract increase request

Representatives of the Child Advocacy Center told the Titus County Commissioners Court on Tuesday that the center served 74 children across three counties in 2024, including 32 children in Titus County, and described rising operating costs that prompted a requested 5% increase in their contract with the county.

The center's speaker said the program logged 694 staff hours and 682 volunteer hours serving Titus County children last year, and volunteers and staff traveled a combined 6,919 miles to visit children placed in the foster-care system. "We do not coerce, we do not encourage them. We are fully... objective," the representative said when describing how forensic interviews are conducted with child victims.

The Child Advocacy Center explained its role in coordinating forensic interviews, family advocacy and trauma-focused counseling. Investigators from CPS or law enforcement bring children to the center for a single, recorded forensic interview observed by law enforcement and child-protection staff, the center said; advocates then help families access housing, food, victim-compensation and counseling referrals. The center said this coordinated approach reduces repeated interviews and supports better investigative and prosecutorial outcomes.

Why it matters: The center said its work reduces duplicative interviews and costs to the county, and that a shortage of volunteers and rising business expenses threaten its ability to maintain services. The center asked commissioners to continue support as its operating costs rise.

Key numbers and process details provided by center staff:

- Children served in 2024: 74 across three counties; 32 in Titus County. - Outcomes for Titus County children in 2024: 6 adoptions and 1 child exited foster care at age 18. - Hours and travel: 694 staff hours; 682 volunteer hours; 6,919 miles traveled by staff/volunteers to visit children in foster care. - Age breakdown (Titus County, 2024): about 11% age 5 and younger; 11% age 6–11; 9% age 12–18; 1 child age 19–21 and still in care. - Volunteer requirements described: background checks (DPS and fingerprint), an interview, three reference checks, 30 hours of pre-service training and three hours of courtroom observation before assignment to some cases.

On funding, the center told commissioners it raised its contract request by 5%—from $8,600 to approximately $9,030, an increase the center said equaled about $430—citing higher costs for insurance, surveillance licensing, training fees, automobile expenses (fuel, repairs, insurance) and utilities. The center gave several percentage increases for line items: a 17% increase in training or license-related fees, a 35% rise in surveillance costs, and an 18% rise in automobile expenses; it also cited a significant increase in water/sewer costs this year. The center said it kept labor costs roughly flat and reduced overtime while continuing staff raises.

Speakers also said a 2021 state House bill changed the standard for removal, requiring what the presenter called "imminent danger" before children are removed, and that the law also expanded an "alternative response" approach intended to keep children with their families when possible; the center said that change reduced the number of cases in which volunteers are appointed.

The meeting record reflects no formal budget amendment was proposed and no county action on the contract change was recorded in the provided transcript segment.

Ending: Center representatives thanked the county, local investigators and volunteers and asked for continued partnership. The commissioners' formal response or any vote on funding was not included in the transcript excerpts provided.