In today's society, an estimated 90 percent of abuse or neglect on children is carried out by a caregiver or someone the child knows, according to Children's Safe Harbor. As the only child advocacy center in The Woodlands area, Children's Safe Harbor combines a variety of resources under one roof to ease the healing process for children ages 2–17 who have experienced or witnessed different forms of abuse.

Children's Safe Harbor started small in the early 1990s with a board of directors who gathered to examine physical, emotional and sexual child abuse laws. The center, founded Aug. 31, 1998, has expanded throughout the past four years from a 3,000- to 15,000-square-feet facility with about 12 employees to better serve children in Montgomery, San Jacinto and Walker counties.

"All of these years, the average child we see is a 7-year-old white female," said Victoria Constance, executive director of Children's Safe Harbor and CEO of the board. "Rather than taking her to the police department, CPS [Child Protective Services] and a nurse, we bring all of those people to the advocacy center to reduce the number of times a child has to tell what [abuse] happened to her."

The center collaborates with local law enforcement to provide detectives and has established a partnership with Memorial Hermann Hospital to offer on-site medical exams. In addition, children are able to receive forensic interviews and counseling by licensed professionals in the facility and other satellite offices around the community for convenience.

Constance said the center was only able to aid about 20 children per month 15 years ago, but it now accommodates anywhere from 55 to 100 with upwards of 1,200 child cases addressed annually.

Phil Grant, vice president of Children's Safe Harbor and first assistant for the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, has been a prosecutor for 17 years and a child abuse specialist for a large portion of his career.

"I've prosecuted cases where there was advocacy center involvement and cases where there wasn't," Grant said. "In cases where there was, I can tell you the services offered and the long-term counseling not only benefit prosecution, [but] the child at the end of the experience is much better off because of the support and counseling they receive."

Children's Safe Harbor receives about three-quarters of its funding for operations through federal, state and local grants, with 25 percent raised through donations and fundraising. As the center continues to serve the ever-growing county communities, Constance said, officials hope to raise $1.5 million within the next two or three years to expand the facility by 12,000 square feet to better accommodate more services for children.

Children's Safe Harbor 1519 Odd Fellow Street , Conroe, 936-756-4644, www.childrenssafeharbor.org