Parker County residents and officials gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new 7,000 square-foot building for the county’s Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC). The CAC is currently operating out of a temporary space in the Parker County Attorney’s Office and will move into this new facility built on land donated by Jerry Durant off Clear Lake Drive, next to the Center of Hope facility. In addition to providing MEP engineering and landscape architecture services, BHB has donated $25,000 of civil engineering services to the project and facilitated the donation of geotechnical engineering by another firm.
According to cacparkercounty.org, the law enforcement of Parker County investigated over 150 cases in which children were victims, and 275 reports with child physical abuse or child sexual abuse allegations in the year 2016 alone. While these numbers are staggering, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Parker County is working to fulfill their mission of ending the cycle of abuse by giving Parker County children a voice. The CAC provides children a place for healing by offering free services to victims and their families including forensic interviews, multiple disciplinary team investigations, training, victim support and advocacy, and counseling and support services.
“Getting to work on a project like this and knowing that I get to help in some way is very rewarding,” said Scott Crawford, Civil Engineer and Project Manager at BHB. “Sadly, there are some really bad things that happen to some children, and it is good to be able to help.”
Parker County was previously the largest county in Texas without a child advocacy center, and now expects to see at least 300 Parker County children each year. Estimated to be complete in late 2019, the new facility will include a therapy room, service wings, and a healing garden.
