New Insights on Supporting Rural Law Enforcement

Our Regional Crimes Against Children pilot program generates positive results — and offers a model for innovation.

Healing, Justice, Response

Child abuse and neglect cases challenge Texas law enforcement agencies in different ways. While urban agencies struggle to resource ever-expanding caseloads, more isolated and rural areas are challenged to provide the specialized services children and families so desperately need.

To improve outcomes for kids across Texas, Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas (CACTX) and our Statewide Multidisciplinary Task Force made funding available to communities interested in creating and adopting a Regional Crimes Against Children Task Force (RCACTF) pilot program, through which a local model could be created to streamline the investigation and handling of crimes against children cases across multiple law enforcement agencies. The rural community of Henderson County applied for and was awarded the grant to implement the pilot.

The Henderson RCACTF is one of the first of its kind in Texas. Made up of six specially trained investigators employed by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, the RCACTF is co-located within the Henderson County HELP Center, which encompasses the community’s children’s advocacy center (CAC), Maggie’s House.

To improve investigations, provide a better experience for children and families, and free-up remaining officers to focus on other crimes in Henderson communities, Henderson County’s nineteen law enforcement agencies were invited to refer all child maltreatment cases to the RCACTF for investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and a coordinated multidisciplinary response through the CAC.

Seventeen of nineteen local law enforcement agencies agreed to participate in the pilot and 82% of all Henderson child maltreatment cases were referred to the task force in year one. This amounted to 360 cases opened for investigation by the RCACTF, in which child sexual abuse was the most frequent case type.

Law enforcement leadership saw referring these cases to the RCACTF as a chance to better optimize officer time. Prior to the RCACTF, best estimates suggest child sexual abuse cases took 137 days of investigative effort on average. With the RCACTF, the average time required dropped to just 47 days.

Having dedicated investigators has significantly reduced the time it takes to resolve cases, allowing us to better serve children in need. — RCACTF Survey Respondent

With timely investigations, more specialized services — from victim advocacy to therapy, medical evaluation, and more — are reaching the kids and families who need them. Since the RCACTF’s implementation, Henderson’s child victims have received 90% of recommended services through the CAC, Maggie’s House.

After a year of participation, 100% of participating police chiefs strongly agreed they were satisfied with the task force’s creation. 82% strongly agreed that referral to RCACTF allows their investigators more time to work on non-child maltreatment cases, and 100% agreed they would recommend creating more RCACTFs.

From left to right: Sheila Davis, Chief Operating Officer at Henderson County HELP Center and Maggie’s House; RCACTF Investigators Dustin Smith, Jerry Moore, Eduardo Gonzales, Meagan Hogan, Hannah Gibson-Moore, Program Principal at CACTX.

From left to right: Trendy Sharp, Regional Principal at CACTX; Jenny Palmer, District Attorney; Clint Davis, County Attorney; Botie Hillhouse, Henderson County Sheriff.

The RCACTF is driving more effective communication, efficient collaboration, and stronger multidisciplinary team responses in Henderson County. Learnings from Henderson’s RCACTF will help other counties develop task forces and help us think creatively about ways to better support law enforcement agencies everywhere.