In Dallas County, there's a unique place that helps children who have experienced the trauma of abuse. It's called the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center, and currently, they're looking for volunteers.
“Our mission is to improve the lives of abused children, and provide national leadership on child abuse issues,” said Lana Ahrens, DCAC director of training and community outreach.
Ahrens, who has been in this line of work for about 16 years, said everyday life-changing work takes place at the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center
"We are getting to work with kids that are the most severely abused in Dallas County however, we are restoring justice and we are restoring their hope," said Ahrens.
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The facility is one of a kind because under one room it handles the investigation, prosecution and treatment of child abuse cases through the coordination of law enforcement, child protective services, the district attorney's office and medical health professionals.
"The child is brought here and during that forensic interview and also receiving the treatment services for the trauma of abuse," explained Ahrens.
"We are getting to work with kids that are the most severely abused in Dallas County however, we are restoring justice and we are restoring their hope. so even though they have experienced this awful abuse, they can come here to Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center for that healing," said Ahrens.
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In the last fiscal year, they read more than 28,000 reports of child abuse and provided services to more than 8,000 kids and their non-offending family members.
"We provide therapy services for our children and non-offending family members. We know abuse affects an entire family, so all of our therapy services here are evidence-based, researched-based, trauma-focused therapy to really deal with that trauma that they’ve experienced. All of our services here are completely free for our children and families," said Ahrens.
Through their 'Clothes Closet' and their back-to-school drive, families are able to get the supplies needed for their kids.
“The abuse of trauma is so awful that we don’t want our families to have to worry about those little things like backpacks and school supplies," said Ahrens.
Between staff members and volunteers, the constant goal is to provide services for thousands of kids and also equip the community with information on how to recognize and report child abuse.
“We really believe that the best defense against crimes against children is education. We want our community to be educated on how to recognize child abuse, how to report child abuse, and that’s one thing that we do here, is that we provide that education, completely free of charge to our community," said Ahrens. "So if anyone in our community is needing that kind of education, they can reach out to DCAC and we can provide that training.”
Next month between August 8 - 11 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, they will be hosting the 2022 Crimes Against Children Conference.
“Because our conference is bringing in the most experienced and truly the best speakers in this industry in this field, people from all over the country, are coming to Dallas, really all over the world, are coming to Dallas to hear from these speakers so they can learn how to do their jobs better and truly fight these horrific crimes against children," explained Ahrens.
They are in need of volunteers to help staff the event and serve as room monitors. It also gives them the opportunity to hear from some of the most experienced people in the industry.
If you would like to volunteer, click here.
