MISSION/HISTORY
Alliance For Children is the children’s advocacy center serving all of Tarrant County. Since 1992, over 71,000 children have benefited from Alliance For Children's teamed investigations and coordinated approach. Alliance For Children is a nonprofit organization that operates child-friendly centers located in Arlington, Fort Worth, and Hurst. It is our mission to protect Tarrant County children from child abuse through teamed investigations, healing services and community education.
Alliance For Children is a fully accredited member of the National Children's Alliance® , a membership association of over 700 children's advocacy centers and is a founding member of Children's Advocacy Centers™ of Texas .
STAFF
To contact Alliance For Children staff, please call the center closest to you:
Arlington Center
817.795.9992
Fort Worth Center
817.335.7172
Northeast Center
817.427.3110
BOARD
Executive Committee
Konrad Halbert, President
Melinda Westmoreland Nag, Secretary
Day Diaz, Board Secretary
Monique Waggoner, Board Treasurer
Haley Adams, Vice President of Advancement
Debbie Fulwiler, Vice President of Facilities
Ryan Williams, Vice President Government Affairs
Chief J.T. Manoushagian*, Member at Large
Larry J. Mike, II, Member at Large
Board Members
Andrew Bartlett
Kadee Blair
Debbie Bourdreaux*
Kendra Bowen
Frank Cappuccio
Chris Daniels, Deputy Chief*
Jamie Holderby
Lt. Cameron Huggins*
Reid Hutcherson
Nina Jones
Mark Leigh
LeeAnn Marks*
R. Dyann McCully
Tanya Merlino
Paige Payne-Neal
Isa Pena-Keller
Camille Sassman
Michael Shedd
Bill Vassar*
Brook Whitworth
Kathryn Wilemon
Marian Zinnante, MD
*These board members are partner agency employees who have been appointed to serve by their respective agencies. They are voting members.
LOCATIONS
Arlington
1312 West Abram
Arlington, Texas 76013
Phone: 817.795.9992
Fort Worth
3609 Marquita Dr.
Fort Worth, Texas 76116
Fort Worth Main Line: 817.335.7172
Fort Worth Clinical: 817-334-0588
Northeast
625 Grapevine Highway
Hurst, Texas 76054
Phone: 817.427.3110
NEWS/MEDIA
All inquiries from members of the media should be directed to Taylor Elliott. Click below to see the individual stories, if available.
2022 - Chosen as Best Non-profit Charity Event by readers of FW Magazine
2022 - Arlington Citizen Media
2022 - NBC5 DFW
2022 - In Focus Texas
2022 - Star-Telegram
2022 - Fort Worth Report
2022 - Fort Worth Woman
2022 - Star-Telegram
2021 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Christmas Connection seeks donors
2021 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Child Abuse Reports May Spike as School Starts
2021 - Madeworthy Magazine - "Remember These Children Are Loved By God"
2021 - Fort Worth Woman - Women on the Move - Kristin Lockwood
2021 - FWTX Magazine - April is Child Abuse Prevention Month
2021 - UTA Shorthorn - Service Learning
2020 - Shoutout DFW - Meet Julie Evans
2020 - Alliance For Children was chosen for the Best Nonprofit Event for our Let's Play Bingo! Fundraiser
2020 - Star-Telegram: Advocates fear child abuse cases will go unreported during coronavirus school closures
2020 - NPR: Child Welfare Advocates Fear Surge In Abuse Cases During Recession
2020 - Tanglewood Moms: Helping the Weakest Among Us
2020 - GRACE Gabs: Interview with CEO Julie Evans
2019 - Telemundo: Residents Alarmed by Sex Offender featuring Alliance For Children
2019 - Telemundo: Shaken Baby Effects featuring Alliance For Children
2019 - Society Life Magazine featuring Alliance For Children
2019 - NBC 5 Tell Me Something Good: Pop-Up Store Serves 500 Young Survivors of Abuse
2019 - WFAA Pop-Up Shop Helps Families of Abuse Victims in Tarrant County
2018 - Alliance For Children was chosen as Fort Worth Magazine's Reader Pick for best nonprofit in Fort Worth.
In June 2017, the Star-Telegram featured Alliance For Children in a series of articles focusing on child abuse prevention efforts and the services we provide for victims. View the articles by clicking the links below:
Agencies Work Hand-in-Hand to Investigate Cases, Keep Children Safe
Teachers Play a Very Important Role in the Reporting of Child Abuse
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Women In Film Dallas 2016 PSA: Alliance For Children (English Version)
Women In Film Dallas 2016 PSA: Alliance For Children (Spanish Version)
OPERATIONAL REPORTS
FAQ
Alliance For Children is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Our mission is to protect Tarrant County children from child abuse through teamed investigations, healing services and community education. We use a coordinated, multidisciplinary teamed approach to child abuse investigations that allows us to lessen the trauma to child abuse victims and provide timely, supportive services to children and their protective caregivers.
Alliance For Children partners with 40 Tarrant County law enforcement agencies, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Cook Children’s® Health Care System, JPS Health Network, Texas Health Resources, Tarrant County Juvenile Services, and the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. All of these agencies work together at Alliance For Children centers to reduce trauma to child abuse victims during an investigation and to improve their agencies’ responses to children who are often frightened and hurting. As a result of the collaboration, investigators and detectives are able to complete investigations in a more timely fashion, case information is stronger for investigative decision-making, and children and protective caregivers are more likely to benefit from available services.
Collaborating partner agencies include:
Azle ISD Police Department
Castleberry ISD Police Department
Cook Children's® Medical Center
Crowley ISD Police Department
Dalworthington Gardens Police Department
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Grand Prairie Police Department
Mansfield Independent School District Police Department
North Richland Hills Police Department
Pelican Bay Police Department
Richland Hills Police Department
Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office
Tarrant County Juvenile Services
Tarrant County Sheriff's Office
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
Westover Hills Police Department
Before Children’s Advocacy Centers existed, children were often “re-victimized” through unnecessary and repetitive interviews due to each agency’s independent process. The multidisciplinary teamed approach to investigations helps overcome these problems by reducing child trauma and enhancing the investigation, resulting in a more supportive environment for child victims and their families and a higher number of convictions for offenders.
Alliance For Children serves children up to the age of 18 who are victims of sexual or physical abuse, neglect or witnesses to violent crime. Alliance For Children serves over 2,500 each year and has served over 63,000 children since opening our doors in 1992.
Alliance For Children is the only nonprofit agency in Tarrant County directly involved in child abuse investigations.
Alliance For Children services are at no cost to the clients we serve.
Our team provides the following services: forensic interviews, case management, individual and group counseling, prevention education and multidisciplinary team coordination.
The goal of a forensic interview is to gather pertinent information from children in a neutral, non-leading, developmentally sensitive, and legally defensible manner. Our team of Forensic Interviewers are experts in speaking with traumatized children and are specially trained to talk with children in a one-on-one setting and in a child-friendly way while trying to make them feel comfortable during the process.
Children are referred to Alliance For Children through the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and local law enforcement agencies.
Texas State Law requires that ANYONE "having cause to believe that a child's physical, mental health or welfare has been or may be adversely affected by abuse or neglect" MUST report the cause immediately. Failure to report child abuse is a misdemeanor punishable by law. Texas Family Code, Chapter 261.
To report suspected child abuse call 1.800.252.5400.