The Bridge Children's Advocacy Center

In 1984, the Coalition for Child Abuse Prevention, formed by agencies serving children in the Texas Panhandle, recognized that the system in place to address child abuse was, in many cases, re-victimizing the very children it was intended to help.

Children were being bounced from professional to professional to tell and retell their story thus evoking stress, in some cases the children were interrogated instead of questioned.

Court cases were often lost due to a lack of comprehensive case management practices.
Under the guidance of The Bridge, law enforcement agencies, Child Protective Services, medical professionals and the judicial system came together in a memorandum of understanding, establishing the first Case Review Team in the state of Texas.