Family Compass, the largest North Texas non-profit dedicated to the prevention of child abuse, announces the Grand Opening on January 22, 2015 of its new Collin County location following a merger with Family Outreach of Richardson Plano (FORP). The event marks the completion of a majority of integration activities since the merger announcement in late November. Headed up by executive director Jessica Slie Trudeau, the organization will operate under the Family Compass name and bring enhanced child abuse prevention services to at-risk families in Collin County.
Trudeau explains, “As Collin County’s population continues to grow rapidly, so does the risk of abuse. The merger allows us to help more children and at-risk families now and for many years to come. In addition to a moral obligation to protect our community’s children, prevention services make sense financially for Collin County. The CDC estimates the lifetime cost of abuse for each individual is $210,012. As such, the 1,168 confirmed cases in Collin County in 2013 will have an estimated lifetime cost of more than $240 million. Alternatively, it costs just $1,500 annually per child to receive services to prevent abuse. We bring the necessary programming and funding infrastructure to address the needs in Collin County and continue focused efforts on ensuring that children are protected from abuse and able to retain their innocence,” said Trudeau.
“More than 4,800 children were reported to Child Protective Services as abused last year in our community, in addition to many more children who were victimized in criminal child abuse cases,” said Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County (CACCC) CEO Lynne McLean. “The numbers continue to increase, and Family Compass will build upon the strong foundation laid by Family Outreach over the past 41 years to offer critically important evidenced-based child abuse prevention services to Collin County families. We are thrilled to welcome Family Compass to Collin County and the team co-housed here at CACCC as we work together to prevent and reduce child abuse and neglect.”
Family Compass also brings Collin County residents and businesses opportunities to support the issue through events and activities including the annual Charity Golf Classic at Stonebriar Country Club. For more information please visit www.family-compass.org. Media: Go to media resources
Founded in 1992, Family Compass has served over 41,000 children and parents in North Texas. The mission of Family Compass is to build healthy families and a strong community by preventing child abuse and neglect. This is accomplished through four nationally accredited home mentoring, community based and educational programs for families that have elevated risk for child abuse. All programs are evidence based, voluntary and free of charge. Family Compass believes that every child has the fundamental right to a healthy family and environment, the opportunity to succeed in school and the capacity to experience life without violence.
