After talking for two hours about ongoing sexual abuse at the trusted hands of her stepfather, a precious seven-year old girl handed Forensic Interviewer Rebecca Cunio a drawing of a large heart encircled by smaller ones. It read “I love you for what you do.” For Cunio, it was a defining moment in her career.

“To me, it lends credence to the power of these interviews because of what it means to the young victims and their families,” said Cunio, an online Master’s student at Sam Houston State University.

Cunio works in the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC), a program of the Crisis Center of Anderson and Cherokee counties. This is one of 64 CAC’s in the state of Texas and among 700 others across the country that provide a single place where children alleged to have been abused or neglected are interviewed for criminal cases and civil actions by Child Protective Services. These non-profit agencies provide a number of services to victims and their families including counseling, therapy and family advocacy, to name a few. In addition, the Children’s Advocacy Center provides community education year round to educate adults and children on topics such as personal safety, how to recognize signs of abuse, and how to report suspected child abuse or neglect.