Canopy asks county for extension on Child Protection Team project after hospital and staffing ramp-up delays

Canopy Child Advocacy Center and partner health systems briefed the Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services and Aging Committee on Sept. 13, 2025, about the Child Protection Team (CPT) project and asked the county for an extension to complete the project’s remaining work. Canopy said county funding supported a multidisciplinary response model that pairs the county’s child-protective services, law enforcement, prosecution, and three hospital systems — MetroHealth, University Hospitals, and Cleveland Clinic — to provide coordinated forensic interviews, medical evaluations and family advocacy for severe child abuse and neglect cases.

"The child protection team provides critical and potentially life saving services," Deborah Brewer, assistant county prosecutor who oversees the Special Victims Unit, told the committee. Jennifer Johnson, executive director of Canopy, summarized project history and partners and said Canopy began the CPT project Jan. 1, 2023, after an RFP process. Canopy reported service totals for the project period through May 31, 2025: 415 severe child abuse and neglect cases and 999 other cases (a total the presenter gave as 1,414 cases). The center said 55 of the severe cases had forensic interviews conducted at Canopy; family-advocacy work engaged families a reported 1,727 times and 383 of the 415 severe cases (reported by Canopy staff) had active family-advocacy engagement (the presenter characterized this as a 92 percent response rate). Canopy reported medical-exam counts of 28 (baseline year 2022), 52 (2023), 104 (2024) and 82 for the first half of 2025. Canopy said 49 individuals had engaged in therapy to date, and the team held 169 case reviews and 19 training events involving about 175 partner organizations.

Medical partners described program development and gaps the project encountered. Dr. Kristen Iniguez, medical advisor at Canopy, said she has provided direct care to more than 50 children and participated in the care of over 80 children since joining the project. She described efforts to implement updated evidence-based clinical guidelines, create clinical pathways to involve DCFS and law enforcement early, and expand education for medical and law-enforcement providers. Canopy and the three hospital systems said a major obstacle was recruiting a dedicated child abuse pediatrician and other specialized staff; staffing gaps and the time required to build cross-system trust caused a slower ramp-up than originally planned.

On budgets, Canopy said its original spending projections were delayed by staffing challenges but that, based on current trends, it expects to spend remaining funds if an extension is approved. Canopy estimated a projected remaining balance of $172,231.17 under current assumptions and asked for flexibility — ideally a two‑year extension, or at minimum an 18‑month extension — to reach the service targets originally planned. Canopy offered case examples and multiple partner speakers — including MetroHealth, Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, and Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services — to illustrate the multidisciplinary response.

Committee members commended the partnership and asked about overdiagnosis concerns (medical partners described monitoring diagnosis rates and using updated guidelines to reduce miscategorizations). Committee members also asked about school engagement, data-sharing processes, and handling repeat cases; Canopy said the program maintains a database accessible to partners, has protocols to manage HIPAA and legal constraints, and is developing outreach to schools as resources allow.

Formal action: This presentation was informational; no formal committee vote on a Canopy contract extension was recorded during the meeting. Canopy requested a contract-extension period to allow completion of the project’s medical and multidisciplinary components.