Child Advocacy Center tells commissioners it served 94 children in 2025; requests county support for Child Abuse Prevention Month

Cass Bett, executive director and forensic interviewer at the Child Advocacy Center, told the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners that the nonprofit provided forensic interviews and child-friendly medical evaluations to 94 children in 2025 and is preparing for Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.

Bett said the center’s model aims to reduce trauma by having developmentally appropriate interviews and by offering medical evaluations in a child-friendly space rather than an emergency room. She said the center coordinates with law enforcement, children and youth services, victim-service agencies and mental-health therapists, and that in 2025 the center served 94 children.

Bett described the center’s clinical capacity as limited—she said the center works with approximately four therapists who provide trauma-focused therapy—and asked the commission to support prevention education and community awareness activities. “Prevention starts with education,” Bett said, and she requested the county consider shining a blue light from the courthouse during April to raise visibility for child-abuse prevention.

Commissioners adopted a proclamation declaring April 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Jefferson County. Bett said the center is funded by community donations and government grants and that donations help provide school supplies, backpacks and care items for children the center serves.

The commissioners did not take additional funding action at the meeting; commissioners and staff thanked Bett and acknowledged the difficulty and importance of the center’s work.