FAQ

The Center for Child Protection (the Center) serves as the community representative on the Travis County Child Protection Team (CPT), a group of agencies dedicated to reducing trauma for children during the investigation and prosecution of crimes against them.

The CPT is committed to serving children and their protective families as best as possible under any circumstance. The Travis County CPT is a multi-disciplinary team comprised of law enforcement, the Department of Family and Protective Services, Dell Children’s Medical Center, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, and the Center for Child Protection.

An MDS, or Multi-Disciplinary Staffing, is where Child Protection Team members gather to share pertinent information relating to cases and engage in case planning to determine how to jointly proceed with a case or investigation. Representatives from each core discipline (i.e., an ADA, Dell CARE team, Law enforcement, DFPS, a Family Advocate or Victim Services, a Forensic Interviewer, and representatives from the CCP clinical department are in attendance to provide input and or expertise.

We hold MDS to capitalize on the diversity of perspectives, expertise, and experience within our CPT and produce effective and positive outcomes for families and children through collaboration and strategically planned support and services.

The Center offers a variety of therapy services and groups free of charge in English and Spanish to the families referred to our agency. The Center offers short-term early interventions for children and caregivers shortly after an outcry is made in a forensic interview. These short-term therapy services include Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). The Center also provides long-term therapy services including individual therapy and Family Relational Therapy (FRT). Additionally, the Center facilitates experiential groups for the families engaged in therapy services. These groups include Fun Run, Summer Theater, and Iron Paws. The Center also offers a Risk and Protective Parenting Group (RPG) to help build caregivers’ protective factors.

Forensic Interviews Service:
A forensic interview is a developmentally sensitive method of gathering information regarding allegations of abuse and/or exposure to violence. These recorded statements are conducted by a specially trained, unbiased professional in a legally defensible manner. To schedule a forensic interview during regular business hours (Monday to Friday , 8-5) please contact the Coordination line at (512-600-2735.) To schedule a forensic interview after hours, please call the Emergency line at 512-657-0638.

The Center’s Coordination team works closely with CPS Investigators to initiate a coordinated response to cases that meet the CPTs criteria for an MDT response. For these cases, the coordinators send curated recommendations to connect investigators to pertinent information for forensic interviews, the Dell Children’s CARE Team, law enforcement partners and clinical services at the Center. This communication initiates an MDT response with the purpose of team members working together to effectively investigate and support families.

The Center for Child Protection offers all client services in English and Spanish. For any other languages, the Center will request professional interpretation services. Additionally, the Center has a bilingual (English/Spanish) interpreter/translator on staff that can be utilized for onsite in-person interpretation.

Forensics:
The Center has bilingual English/Spanish forensic interview staff. For other languages, the Center will request interpretation services in-person, over Zoom, or by phone. When scheduling an interview, agency partners should request the interpreter and provide the language and dialect that the family speaks.

In House Interpreter/Translator:
The Center has a bilingual, English/Spanish, interpreter who is available to assist with on-site forensic and medical appointments. In person request should be requested through Coordination at 512-600-2753.

Therapy referrals for short-term therapy services and long-term individual therapy require an outcry made during a forensic interview. Therapy referrals for Family Relational Therapy (FRT) do not require an outcry and can be staffed with our Intake department to determine eligibility.

The Risk and Protectiveness Group is an intensive ten-week group designed to address issues related to substance abuse, trauma, risk, and protectiveness through both psychoeducational and psychotherapeutic group processes. It is hoped that through understanding one’s own family history and in developing empathy and communication skills that group members will be able to move toward re-unifying the family system to a protective level of functioning. In addition, it is the goal that, through participation, members may become more open to therapeutic services and parenting classes in general, which ultimately may increase engagement in these services. The Center for Child Protection Risk and Protectiveness group include topics specific to risk and protectiveness and the impact of trauma on the individual and family system, including crisis and trauma; child development; empathy and apathy; communication; family patterns; and more.

Groups are offered on a rolling schedule and are offered in both English and Spanish by licensed clinicians. Most times, clients can begin a group within a week of referral. The group is held via telehealth.

Please call the Center for Child Protection at (512) 472-1164. Under the Clinical Services menu, please select the referral option to speak to an Intake Specialist.

Thanks to our donors, we can keep our Kid’s Closet well stocked with much needed essentials for the families and children we work with. Throughout the week we receive donations from individuals and/or organizations that help us keep our closet stocked and ready to go. We have clothing items, shoes, hygiene supplies, Black hair care kits, school supplies, toys, games, bedding, duffle bags, backpacks, household items, diapers and more. All these items are available to any CPT member to give out to our families.

Whenever anything is taken from the kids closet by anyone (ex. CPS, Center Staff, Volunteers, Law Enforcement, Victim Services, Medical, Etc.) we are required to fill out a copy of the “Kid’s Closet Inventory Removal” form. Every box does not have to be filled out, however, please fill out as much as you can especially the inventory part. These forms need to be placed in the folder right next to the door.

If you have any suggestions for items or can’t find something your family needs, please add those ideas to our form as well so we can better stock the closet for future requests. If you have questions, comments or need help finding something in our Kid’s Closet, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Program Specialists at ProgramSpecialists@centerforchildprotection.org.

The Center for Child Protection, as funds are available, provides an emergency fund for families in the child abuse and neglect system. The purpose of the emergency fund is to assist a child and their family in moving through the system. To be eligible for emergency funds, a family must be involved with the Center for Child Protection or a Child Protection Team agency. To request emergency funds, the CCP or CPT staff member must complete an Application for Emergency Funds. Criteria used to evaluate the application include but are not limited to: need arising from the abuse or neglect of a child, income to expenses ratio, ability to pay similar bills in the following month, the family’s involvement in services, the direct impact of the funds, other resources used previously and attempts to access other community resources.

To use emergency funds please call our Coordination team at 512-600-2735 or email efunds@centerforchildprotection.org

If a client does not have transportation, the Center can provide Lyft rideshare services to and from the Center for all appointment types. Agency partners or clients should notify appropriate Center for Child Protection staff that this service is needed at the time of scheduling. Agency partners or clients will need to provide the following: names of riders, exact address, and client cell phone number to the Center for Child Protection staff member.