A Future Home for the Children's Advocacy Center, Inc.
Planning for the Future of Children and Families in Southeast Kansas.
Our current building has served our community for over 20 years. As our work has grown and evolved, so have the needs of the children, families, and professionals who use our facility. A future facility will allow us to provide the space needed to serve children and families in a welcoming, private, and child-focused environment while also supporting the multidisciplinary professionals involved in their cases.
Planning for the future of child abuse victims and families in Southeast Kansas
For more than 20 years, our community has supported the Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. (CAC) and the children and families we serve. As we look toward the future, we have an incredible opportunity: land that could become the home of the Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc.
Before that vision can move forward, however, the property must first go through the rezoning process. Rezoning is the first step and must occur before we can move into later phases of the project, including final architectural design, fundraising, and construction planning.
We created this page to keep our neighbors and community informed, answer questions, and share updates as we move through that process.
*Nothing shown on this page should be considered a final architectural design. The images and plans shown represent our current vision for the future CAC, with specific details to be refined as the project moves forward.*
Why are we exploring a new facility?
Since 2001, the Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. has called a small white house at the corner of Walnut and Adams streets in Pittsburg home. For more than 20 years, that house has provided a welcoming place for children and families during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. As the needs of our community have grown, we have continued to adapt the space to make it work for the children, families, staff, and multidisciplinary team partners who use it.
Today, we have reached a point where adapting the space is becoming increasingly difficult. Staff members are using the kitchen as workspace, storage space is limited, and there is not enough room to add another forensic interview room. At the same time, we have seen a steady increase in the number of cases we serve, creating a growing need for additional space.
More Than a Building
Behind the plans, meetings, zoning discussions, and a future building is something much bigger: children who need a safe place to tell their story.
When there is an allegation of child abuse, the Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. provides a safe, child-focused environment where a child can speak with a specially trained forensic interviewer rather than having to repeatedly tell one of the most difficult stories of their life to multiple people and agencies.
The CAC also brings the professionals involved in a child’s case together. Law enforcement, child protective services, prosecutors, medical and mental health professionals, advocates, and other multidisciplinary team partners can coordinate their response while keeping the needs of the child at the center. These services are provided at no cost to the children and families we serve.
As the need for our services continues to grow, we need a facility that can grow with it. A future CAC would give us the opportunity to create a space intentionally designed around the children, families, and professionals we serve, not only for the needs we have today, but for the years ahead.
This building is than walls and offices. It would be a place where children are heard. A place where families receive support. A place where professionals work together. A place where healing can begin.
The Proposed Location
Why this property?
The Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. is under contract for land located at 1209 S. 220th Street in Pittsburg, Kansas, that could provide a future home for our organization.
The CAC has agreements with Crawford and Cherokee counties while also serving children and families from surrounding communities. Located near the Crawford-Cherokee county line, this property is well positioned for families and multidisciplinary team partners traveling from both counties while allowing us to continue serving the broader area.
The property also provides an opportunity to thoughtfully plan the facility, parking, outdoor spaces, and access together rather than trying to fit the CAC’s needs into an existing structure.
Our goal is to create a facility that functions well for the children, families, and professionals who use it while also being considerate of the surrounding neighborhood.
Our Current Site Plan
Our current site plan shows how the proposed Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. would be situated on the property.
The plan includes a front entrance for children and families, limited parking on the north side of the building, additional parking behind the facility, green space surrounding the building, and an outdoor play area located behind the building. The existing drive along the tree row would remain.
The site has been planned with both the needs of the CAC and the surrounding neighborhood in mind, including keeping the majority of parking and activity behind the building.
Our Vision for the Future CAC
Our Vision for the Building
The rendering shown represents the overall look and character we envision for the future Children’s Advocacy Center. Our goal is to create a facility with a warm, residential appearance that feels welcoming to children and families while fitting thoughtfully into the surrounding area.
While we know the direction we want the facility to take, the plans and rendering shown at this stage are conceptual. Final architectural and construction plans are specific to the site where the facility will be built and cannot be completed until we know that this property can be used for the future CAC.
Because the property must first go through the rezoning process, the plans shown here represent our current vision for the facility rather than final construction plans. If the property is successfully rezoned, the project can move into later phases, including detailed architectural and construction planning.
Conceptual Rendering: The image shown is intended to illustrate the overall vision for the facility and should not be considered a final architectural plan
A Children's Advocacy Center in Your Neighborhood
We understand that neighbors may have questions about what it means to have a Children’s Advocacy Center nearby. Below are answers to some of the questions we anticipate about the future facility and its day-to-day operations.
Will this be a residential facility?
No. The home-like appearance is intentional. We want children and families arriving at the CAC to enter a space that feels warm and welcoming rather than institutional. The building will operate as a professional facility for the services provided by the Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc..
Will children or families live or stay overnight at the CAC?
No. Children and families do not live or stay overnight at the CAC. They visit the facility for scheduled appointments and services during our normal operating hours.
What are your normal operating hours?
Our typical operating hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
How many employees would normally be at the facility?
The Children’s Advocacy Center, Inc. currently has three employees and is in the process of hiring a fourth. Once that position is filled, four CAC employees would typically work at the facility.
Because the CAC works closely with a multidisciplinary team (MDT), law enforcement, DCF and other MDT partners may also be at the CAC during normal operating hours. They come to participate in scheduled forensic interviews, meetings or other work related to the children and families we serve. The CAC does not serve as their primary workplace.
How much traffic does the CAC typically have?
Traffic at the Children’s Advocacy Center varies from day to day and is primarily related to scheduled appointments. We conduct an average of five forensic interviews each week. For each interview, the child and family come to the CAC at a scheduled time, and members of our multidisciplinary team including representatives from law enforcement and the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) also attend.
We also host scheduled meetings with our multidisciplinary team partners. While these meetings may bring several professionals to the CAC at one time, they are planned in advance and do not occur every day.
Overall, activity at the CAC is scheduled rather than continuous, so there is not a steady flow of visitors coming and going throughout the day.
Will there be a presence of law enforcement?
Law enforcement professionals are an important part of our multidisciplinary team and are usually present during scheduled forensic interviews and other meetings. Their presence at the CAC is part of the coordinated response to child abuse cases and does not necessarily indicate an emergency or active law enforcement situation at the property.
Multidisciplinary team partners will be encouraged to use the parking area behind the building so that their presence is less visible and potentially less intimidating to the children and families arriving for services.
Where will parking be located?
A small parking area is planned on the north side of the building for children, families and other visitors. Additional parking will be located directly behind the building. The current plan does not include large commercial-style parking lot lights.
Where will the playground be located?
The current site plan places the playground on the southwest side of the property, directly behind the building. The playground area will be enclosed with a privacy fence and only open to CAC children and families here during scheduled times.
Will there be lighting around the property?
Yes. Exterior lighting is planned to be residential in nature rather than typical commercial parking-lot lighting. We do not plan to install large parking-lot light poles. Instead, the building will be illuminated much like a residential home, using recessed can lighting and porch lighting around the building and entrances. A small sign near the front of the property will also have a solar light for illumination.
Come See What We Do
We know that reading about a Children’s Advocacy Center isn’t quite the same as seeing one firsthand. We invite our neighbors and community members to visit our current facility, meet our team, and learn more about the work we do every day.
Our upcoming Neighbor Open House is an opportunity to tour the CAC, see how our current space operates, learn more about our vision for the future, and ask any questions you may have.
If you are unable to attend one of the open houses and have questions, please reach out to us!
620-235-0067 or director.cacpittsburg@gmail.com