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Record of Proceedings

Houston City Council Committee Meeting - Children's Assessment Center Presentation (2025-12-02)

Committees and Commissions — Tuesday, December 2, 2025
BodyHouston, Texas
SessionCommittees and Commissions
DateTuesday, December 2, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 20:59

Transcript — Verbatim
0:21

Good morning.

0:22

I'm Amy Peck, Chair of the Committee.

0:24

We are going to get started.

0:25

We are joined today by staff from Councilmember Mayor Pro Tem Cassatum's office, Councilmember Castillo's office, Councilmember Alcorn's office, Councilmember Martinez's office, Councilmember Ramirez's office, and Vice Chair Jackson's office.

0:40

And we have one presentation today.

0:42

It will be the Children's Assessment Center.

0:44

And before the presentation, we have Carrie McCracken, the executive director who'd like to say a few words.

0:52

Thank you for being here today.

0:54

Good morning.

0:54

Good morning.

0:55

If you could step in front of one of the giving this opportunity this morning, I am not going to say much because I want our whole allotment of time to be uh for these guys to give you a presentation today.

1:07

But you know, child sexual abuse in our community is a big issue.

1:11

It's not one that a lot of people want to hear about, not one a lot of people want to talk about.

1:15

So, you know, here in Houston and Harris County, we have this wonderful resource, which is the Children's Assessment Center, which is their safe haven for the healing and the restoring families back back to normal after this horrible thing has happened.

1:30

So today we have uh Dr.

1:31

Brian Gibson, our director of training and education, and Tanae Davis, our director of partner relations, who's going to give you a little presentation, uh tell you a little bit more about what we do.

1:41

Um it's hard to get a lot done in 20 minutes, so please know.

1:44

We also have Karen Connard with us today, who is our assistant director.

1:48

Um, you can call any of us anytime.

1:50

If you have questions, things you want to hear more about, you want to bring people over for the tour, anything you need, please consider us that resource.

1:57

And again, thank you so much for giving us this platform to share our message.

2:01

Thank you so much.

2:03

Staff from Councilman Carter's office.

2:05

We also have staff from Councilmember Carter's office online.

2:12

Good morning.

2:13

Good morning.

2:15

Good morning.

2:18

And we are ready whenever you are.

2:22

Stand.

2:26

Or sit, which do you prefer?

2:27

We can lower it if you want to sit.

2:29

Uh standing of the case.

2:30

So okay, we can raise it up a little bit.

2:36

It's good.

2:36

Thank you.

2:37

All right.

2:37

My name is Tanae Davis.

2:38

I'm the director of partner relations with the Children's Assessment Center.

2:42

And my name is Dr.

2:43

Brian Gibson.

2:44

I'm the director of training and education.

2:47

Thank you for having us this morning.

2:51

All right.

2:51

I want to focus our time this morning with our mission at the CAC.

2:57

The mission of the CAC is to provide a professional, compassionate and coordinated approach to the treatment of sexual abuse children and their families and to serve as an advocate for all children in our community.

3:11

CACs were started in 1985 in Huntsville, Alabama.

3:16

And before CACs were started, when a child made an outcry of abuse, they had to go to multiple locations to tell that story and speak with multiple professionals, such as police officers, CPS workers.

3:30

And so that would result in re-victimizing, re-traumatizing that child.

3:36

And so CACs were created to help mitigate that re-traumatization and to make for more effective and um collaborative uh case investigation.

3:48

And so in the state of Texas, we have 70 CACs, 70 advocacy centers, and nationwide we have 1,000.

3:59

And so in 2024, over 60,000 children received critical services at a Texas CAC.

4:06

And here is Harris County.

4:08

We served just over 78 children and families.

4:12

And so we are located in Rice Village.

4:15

We were established in 1991 to establish a safe haven for child abuse sexual survivors and their families.

4:25

We're accredited through CACs of Texas and the National Children's Alliance.

4:45

Next slide.

4:47

So we have two primary goals at the advocacy centers.

4:50

Our first goal speaks to our children and families and ensuring that we're not re-victimizing them and also helping them support their healing process.

5:00

And then our second goal speaks to our multidisciplinary team.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Health█████████████████████████████████████████████86%
Public Safety███████14%
Summary of Proceedings

Houston City Council Committee Meeting - Children's Assessment Center Presentation (2025-12-02)

The Houston City Council Committee convened on December 2, 2025, to review the operations and services of the Children's Assessment Center (CAC), a 90-year-old facility in the Rice Village area committed to mitigating re-traumatization for child sexual abuse survivors through coordinated, multidisciplinary care. Executive Director Carrie McCracken introduced the session, emphasizing the CAC's role as a healing resource, followed by a detailed presentation from Dr. Brian Gibson (Director of Training and Education) and Tanae Davis (Director of Partner Relations).

Consent Calendar

  • This section contained no routine approvals, unanimous actions, or standard consent items.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments or testimony from community members were recorded during this session; the event was structured entirely as an internal presentation to council staff and members.

Discussion Items

  • Mission and History: Ms. Davis and Dr. Gibson presented the CAC's mission to provide professional, coordinated approaches to treating child sexual abuse, established in 1991 to prevent the re-victimization caused by multiple interviews across different agencies. They noted that Texas has 70 CACs and, in 2024 alone, over 60,000 children received services statewide.
  • Harris County Operations: The CAC serves just over 78 children and families in Harris County with accreditation from CACs of Texas and the National Children's Alliance. They operate with a multidisciplinary team (MDT) comprising 60 partner agencies, including law enforcement (HPD, Sheriff's, Pasadena PD), medical, legal, and child protective services (CPS).
  • Forensic Interviews: Dr. Gibson described the forensic interview as a developmentally sensitive, legally sound process conducted in a neutral, child-friendly environment. The purpose is to gather the child's own words for decision-making without re-traumatization. Interviews cover ages 2 to 17 and are available in English, Spanish, and upon request, other languages with interpreters. The team does not force interviews, and if a child refuses, they are not locked in the room.
  • Medical Evaluations: Dr. Rena Isaac oversees the medical department, which offers comprehensive body exams rather than just sexual abuse specific exams, noting that most children (90-95% of exams) show normal results not because abuse didn't occur, but due to lack of force, delayed outcry, or rapid healing. They do not collect evidence for abuse occurring within 120 hours; those cases are referred to ERs.
  • Clinical Assessments: The new clinical assessment program, three years old, provides trauma-informed mental health assessments to reduce wait times. Sex trafficking victims are prioritized for immediate services, while others on the waitlist receive "care sessions" to promote family engagement and trauma education.
  • MEI Department: The Multidisciplinary Enhancement Initiative (MEI) reviews approximately 200 DFPS intakes daily to ensure collaboration between agencies and streamline timelines for cases involving sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and serious injury.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes, directives, or resolutions were recorded during this presentation.
  • The session concluded with the CAC staff offering ongoing resources, tours, and availability for council staff to contact them regarding questions or further engagement.
  • The committee received information regarding ongoing construction at the facility to enhance technology for forensic interviews, including video and audio capabilities.
  • No discrepancies were noted between the agenda, minutes, and transcript regarding the content of this presentation.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning. I'm Amy Peck, Chair of the Committee. We are going to get started. We are joined today by staff from Councilmember Mayor Pro Tem Cassatum's office, Councilmember Castillo's office, Councilmember Alcorn's office, Councilmember Martinez's office, Councilmember Ramirez's office, and Vice Chair Jackson's office. And we have one presentation today. It will be the Children's Assessment Center. And before the presentation, we have Carrie McCracken, the executive director who'd like to say a few words. Thank you for being here today. Good morning. Good morning. If you could step in front of one of the giving this opportunity this morning, I am not going to say much because I want our whole allotment of time to be uh for these guys to give you a presentation today. But you know, child sexual abuse in our community is a big issue. It's not one that a lot of people want to hear about, not one a lot of people want to talk about. So, you know, here in Houston and Harris County, we have this wonderful resource, which is the Children's Assessment Center, which is their safe haven for the healing and the restoring families back back to normal after this horrible thing has happened. So today we have uh Dr. Brian Gibson, our director of training and education, and Tanae Davis, our director of partner relations, who's going to give you a little presentation, uh tell you a little bit more about what we do. Um it's hard to get a lot done in 20 minutes, so please know. We also have Karen Connard with us today, who is our assistant director. Um, you can call any of us anytime. If you have questions, things you want to hear more about, you want to bring people over for the tour, anything you need, please consider us that resource. And again, thank you so much for giving us this platform to share our message. Thank you so much. Staff from Councilman Carter's office. We also have staff from Councilmember Carter's office online. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. And we are ready whenever you are. Stand. Or sit, which do you prefer? We can lower it if you want to sit. Uh standing of the case. So okay, we can raise it up a little bit. It's good. Thank you. All right. My name is Tanae Davis. I'm the director of partner relations with the Children's Assessment Center. And my name is Dr. Brian Gibson. I'm the director of training and education. Thank you for having us this morning. All right. I want to focus our time this morning with our mission at the CAC. The mission of the CAC is to provide a professional, compassionate and coordinated approach to the treatment of sexual abuse children and their families and to serve as an advocate for all children in our community. CACs were started in 1985 in Huntsville, Alabama. And before CACs were started, when a child made an outcry of abuse, they had to go to multiple locations to tell that story and speak with multiple professionals, such as police officers, CPS workers. And so that would result in re-victimizing, re-traumatizing that child. And so CACs were created to help mitigate that re-traumatization and to make for more effective and um collaborative uh case investigation. And so in the state of Texas, we have 70 CACs, 70 advocacy centers, and nationwide we have 1,000.

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