According to childhood trauma experts, for every soldier returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress or depression, 10 children in the U.S. are traumatized by family violence, sexual abuse and/or neglect. In response to this epidemic, the Center for Child Protection in Austin, Texas, was created in 1989. The first stop for children in Travis County who are suspected victims of abuse (and for children who have witnessed a violent crime), the Center is a child-friendly, specially-equipped facility where children go for recorded forensic interviews, medical exams, counseling and intervention during the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases. The Center takes a holistic approach to child abuse, treating not just the child but his or her protective caregivers and siblings, if necessary. In this way, the Austin non-profit hopes to break generational cycles of abuse - and end this epidemic once and for all.
