Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center welcomes new executive director
Kelly Forister joins the Hill Country Children's Advocacy Center as its executive director. She brings more than 11 years in children's services, including with Child Protective Services and the Williamson County Children's Advocacy Center. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
DANIEL CLIFTON • EDITOR
BURNET — When Kelly Forister looks into the face of a child at the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center, she doesn’t see a kid making their way “through the system.”
Forister, who joined the center in April as its executive director, sees their future — a healed one.
“They are our children, as a community,” she said. “They need a place and time to heal, so when they become adults, they are healthy adults.”
The Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center serves child victims of abuse and neglect. The center offers the child and their non-offending family member services and support to help them heal and cope.
And it’s not something the center does on its own.
“I love that we’re a part of a team on this collaborate effort to protect and help the children,” Forister said. “One of the things I really want to do is strengthen that team effort.”
When law enforcement or Child Protective Services believe a child has been abused and needs to interview the child, they take them to the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center. The center provides a child-friendly atmosphere, far different from a police station.
“One of our forensic interviewers, who is trained specifically on how to interview kids, will do it,” Forister said.
Investigators observe, so the child doesn’t have to undergo interview after interview. It’s all about working together — law enforcement, CPS, prosecutors and other agencies and organizations that work on behalf of the victim.
“I love that law enforcement now looks at us as experts when it comes to children, so they come to us when they have questions,” Forister added. “I want the first thought that an officer has when they have a question about children is, ‘I’ll call the advocacy center.'”
One of Forister’s goals as the center’s executive director is continuing the outreach to other organizations and agencies involved in children’s advocacy and keeping them abreast of the latest research, findings and ideas when it come to kids.
Another goal is to continue to support those agencies, especially CPS.
Before joining the Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center in early April, Forister worked at the Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center for two and a half years, including six months as interim executive director. And before that, she worked for CPS for nine years.
Forister understands what it’s like to stand in a home in the middle of nowhere and basically tell parents she has to take their children. It’s a scary situation, she said. You never know how it will go, and you’re pretty much on your own during the visit.
“That’s why I love that the children’s advocacy center supports CPS, because they don’t get a lot of support,” Forister said.
Ultimately, the goal is to provide abused and/or neglected children a place and opportunity to heal.
“Our services to the child and (non-offending) family members don’t end after the initial interview,” Forister said. “We’ll be there through the healing process so these kids and families can see there is hope and a good future out there for them.”
Go to hccac.org or call (512) 756-2607 to learn more about the center, based in Burnet, and how to support its mission. The Hill Country Children’s Advocacy Center serves Lampasas, Llano, Burnet, Blanco, San Saba and Mason counties.
daniel@thepicayune.com