Seventeen children are abused in Tarrant County every day.
Tarrant County ranks second in Texas for number of confirmed child abuse victims, according to the ACH Child and Family Services website. And last year, 6,213 kids in Tarrant County were victims of child abuse.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and ACH Child and Family Services launched the Bring Their Voice campaign to bring awareness to the community about the prevalent issue of child abuse in Fort Worth.
ACH created an online tool kit to help advocate for local children in the future by pledging to be their voice.
Destiny Boos, a TCU student, works specifically in Behavioral Care at ACH. Behavioral Care is a residential treatment center for kids 4-12 years old who have been removed from their families either temporarily or permanently.
Boos works with these kids daily to help educate them on appropriate behaviors and to teach them healthy ways to regulate their emotions.
“The children we serve have all come from challenging and traumatic backgrounds and it is our job to value them, encourage them and support their every need,” Boos said.
Boos and other caretakers are responsible for caring, feeding, teaching and playing with the kids, while the Tarrant County case manager works with families to arrange an adoptive family for the kids.
“These kids are incredibly special to me,” Boos said. “All they want is to be loved unconditionally.”
Anyone would would like to help volunteer at ACH Child and Family Services can go here.