Pictured above are (from left): John Michael Burns, Board President; Roscoe McSwain, Commissioner Precinct 1; Marlene Hernandez, SCCAC staff; Allison Harbison, Shelby County Judge; Denise Merriman, SCCAC Executive Director; Collin Mathews, SCCAC Board member; Jimmy Lout, Commissioner Precinct 2; Anabel Emmons, SCCAC Board member; Stevie Smith, Commissioner Precinct 2; Veronica Berry, Juvenile Probation Officer; and Tom Bellmyer, Commissioner Precinct 4.
April 5, 2023 - The Shelby County Commissioners designated April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month during their meeting held Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
Before approving the proclamation Allison Harbison, Shelby County Judge, read it aloud as follows:
“Whereas, during the month of April 2023 Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center will observe National Child Abuse Prevention Month to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect and create strong communities to support the strengthening and healing of abused children and their non-offending family members, and
“Whereas, each year multiple Shelby County Children are confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect and it’s prevention is a count-wide responsibility, and
“Whereas, Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center serves abused and neglected children, as well as their non-offending family members each year, and
“Whereas, it is important to remember that children are our future, and we must nurture and protect them and provide a safe environment in which they will grow and prosper.
“Now, therefore be it resolved that the Commissioners Court of the County of Shelby hereby recognizes and proclaims April 2023 to be Child Abuse Prevention Month in Shelby County, Texas and urges all citizens to work together to help significantly reduce child abuse and neglect in our community.”
Denise Merriman, Shelby County Children's Advocacy Center Executive Director, shared some of the statistics from the past year involving children they have served.
“I think our families served was about 250, and then that includes about 150 new victims,” said Merriman. “That’s pretty consistent what we see year to year.”
She further elaborated on the continuing issue in Shelby County and an exciting and hopeful thing she says CACTX who most of their grants come through is shifting focus to try and end child sexual abuse.
“We’re just hopeful in that effort it’s going to make a huge dent in the number of cases we see,” said Merriman. “I think that’s always been, I think in the back of everyone’s mind, ‘Can we end this? Can we do something to stop it? What are we doing on the prevention side?’ Instead of just the detection and treatment.”
