Since its opening, the CAC has grown from one employee to an Executive Director, Assistant Director, Clinical Supervisor, Clinical Care Coordinator, 3 Trauma Therapists, Forensic Director, 2 Forensic Interviewers, Family Advocate, CSEC Advocate Coordinator, Grants Coordinator, SANE Coordinator and Office Manager/ HR Specialist. The CAC has proudly served thousands of children and their families.
In 1995, before the Children’s Advocacy Center was established, Lowndes County had over 1,100 cases of child abuse reported to the Department of Family and Children Services. Only 310 were confirmed cases of child abuse, with twelve arrests and ten convictions. Given this failing system, in 1996 the Lowndes County Abuse Protocol Committee recommended the formation of a task force to evaluate establishing a CAC. Task force members attended training in Huntsville, Alabama, worked diligently to create a CAC that met state and national standards, and raised funds for the center’s operational expenses.
In June 1997, the task force officially became the Board of Directors of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Lowndes County, Inc. receiving non-profit corporate status and opening its doors at 204 E. Magnolia Street. Help and healing for the abused children and their non-offending family members began and prosecution rates have since increased tremendously.
In April 2004, the CAC Board of Directors completed a successful Capital Campaign to purchase and renovate a historic home located at 200 West Moore Street which provided more space for staff and clients as we continued to provide additional services for our clients. We loved this home and served our communities here until October 2017.
In July of 2016, we were gifted land from The Vallotton Family so we could embark on a new Capital Campaign. The Center had outgrown our beloved home on West Moore and needed more space to better serve the children and their families. In October 2017, the CAC moved to it’s new home at 3325 Skipper Bridge Road and were able to continue to expand services and better serve our outlying counties. The Georgia Power Foundation installed a new playground which serves the children during therapy and the community came together to ensure that the new building looks phenomenal and shows how much we care about the children and their families.
In July 2021, the CAC opened a satellite location at 431 E. Dennis Avenue in Nashville, GA. We could not be more proud to be apart of the Berrien County Community!
