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Kramer Children’s Advocacy Center asks Sheffield to double annual support to $3,000
Summary
Chelsea Lawson of Kramer Children’s Advocacy Center told the Sheffield City Council the center served 46 children from Sheffield last year and 24 so far this year and requested the city increase annual support from $1,500 to $3,000 to sustain services for child abuse and trauma victims.
Chelsea Lawson, introduced at the meeting as representing Kramer Children’s Advocacy Center, asked the Sheffield City Council to increase the city’s annual support from $1,500 to $3,000 for the 2026–27 fiscal year.
Lawson said Kramer CAC is a nationally accredited children’s advocacy center providing forensic interviews, medical exams, trauma-focused therapy and victim advocacy, and that all services are offered free to children and families. "All services are provided free of charge to children and families," Lawson told the council, and she cited caseload numbers to show local need: the center served 46 Sheffield-resident children last year and had already served 24 so far this year.
Lawson framed the funding request as an investment in prevention and recovery, noting longer-term economic and public-health costs of childhood trauma. She referenced a 2023 report that, according to her remarks, estimated statewide lifetime costs tied to first-time victims and emphasized local partnerships have become more important as some federal funding has declined.
Council members asked whether the $3,000 request was a citywide standard or based on caseload; Lawson said the amount would remain on the lower end compared with other municipalities and that municipal contributions vary by what each city is "willing and able to provide."
The request to raise Sheffield’s annual contribution was presented for council consideration; the transcript does not record a council vote on the Kramer funding request at this meeting.
Next steps: Lawson offered to host tours of Kramer’s downtown Florence site and a Rosville location for council members. The council did not take a recorded vote on the funding increase during the meeting.
