Child Advocates

Child Advocates, Inc. (CAI) was founded in Harris County (Houston, TX) in 1984 in order to provide court appointed advocate volunteers to speak up for the rights of abused children. An epidemic-level of children were being abused, falling through the cracks in the system, languishing in foster care, and not receiving needed rehabilitation-perpetuating the vicious cycle of child abuse. CAI was founded in order to stop the abuse cycle and give children a voice. CAI has grown from a 1984 budget of $5,100, three volunteer staff persons and 18 volunteers to a 2008 budget of $3.4 million, more than 40 full-time paid staff members, and more than 500 active court appointed advocate volunteers. Our 2008 goal is to serve 1,775 of Houston's most severely abused children. After a comprehensive training program entitled Advocacy University, court appointed advocate volunteers are appointed to a case by a juvenile court judge and spend an average of 2 - 5 hours per week volunteering. Volunteers are the information gatherers and the communications link between the child and the courts. We ensure that the judges have all of the information they need to make the best decisions on behalf of abused children.

www.childadvocates.org