Children's Advocacy Center asks county to support forensic interviews and security upgrades

Shannon Perry, director of community outreach for the Children's Advocacy Center (Southeastern Indiana), reported that the CAC completed 121 forensic interviews in 2025 (55 classified as abuse‑based) and that the center has completed 1,851 forensic interviews since 2009 (1,056 abuse cases). She invited council members to an open house on July 29 and described outreach and school‑based prevention programming across 32 school buildings and six counties.

Perry said some CAC needs include funding for forensic interviews, advocacy support, and secure recording and storage systems that comply with high security standards; she offered to follow up with more detailed budget and equipment specifications when available. Council members asked for county‑specific staff counts and workload; Perry said Madison’s office is fully staffed (one forensic interviewer and one child/family advocate on‑site) and that the CAC serves roughly 600 people annually across three offices.

The council thanked Perry and accepted the invitation to tour the facility; no county appropriation was decided at the meeting.