Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County staff sorts through back-to-school donations.[/caption]

Child Protective Services received more than 4,800 reported cases of child abuse and neglect in Collin County in 2014. Every year more than 3,300 children and their families come to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County for help.

“Child abuse is a generational issue, and our intervention helps break that cycle,” CACCC Clinical Director Dan Powers said. “When we talk with some of the families, we find out that child abuse is part of that family culture, and it goes back, literally generations.”

The CACCC collaborates with therapists, the Family Violence Unit of the Plano Police Department and CPS in an effort to determine whether cases are criminal abuse or noncriminal negligence.

The aim of working with law enforcement and CPS is to reduce the number of times a child has to recount and retell his or her experience of being abused, CEO Lynne McLean said. The CACCC is a place where multiple organizations partner to solve child abuse cases and help children heal.

Center volunteers dedicate their time providing child care in the Fun Room and helping in the Rainbow Room, which stores clothes, shoes and hygiene products for children and teenagers who are in CPS custody.

Once a child gets help from the center, he or she can come back to the CACCC for help throughout their lives, McLean said. If a child is abused or neglected at a young age, the effects of the abuse are likely to resurface when he or she is a teenager or even as a parent later in life.

If the child does not receive early counseling, his or her chances of substance abuse or going into the juvenile detention system are higher than those who have had someone to talk to about their experience, McLean said.

“That helps them to be able to be functional adults who can care for their own children safely,” she said.

Sometimes the center’s therapists must intervene to stop the child abuse culture that might be prevalent in a family. Some cases reveal a situation in which the children’s parents have been abused, and the adults themselves need to heal in order to take care of the children, Powers said.

“We don’t just work with the child; we work with the whole family,” he said. “We work with non-offending family members [as well]. So we understand that child abuse happens in a family system, and that helps us stop that cycle.”

The CACCC has a training and prevention program to help residents spot child abuse and neglect in their community. Along with help from volunteers, McLean said therapy and having a support group at every stage of life can help victims of abuse lead productive lives.

“We are not a super sad place,” she said. “People think child abuse is such a big issue that there is nothing that they, as individuals, can do to help. There are many things that everyone can do.”