MONROE — Green County Human Services announced the upcoming groundbreaking for an expansion of the Green County Child Advocacy Center (CAC), located at 2809 6th Street, Monroe. An official ground-breaking ceremony, including Multi-Disciplinary Team members, will take place at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Construction is scheduled to begin in October and be completed in the Spring of 2024.

“The need for forensic interview and mental health services continue to increase for our community. In 2023, we conducted 62 Forensic Interviews and provided Mental Health Services to approximately 80 children,” said CAC Coordinator Stephanie King. “This expansion will allow us streamline services so we can support more people simultaneously. We currently do not have the capacity to do this due to facility limitations.”

Funding for the project is earmarked from Green County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and Human Services reserve funds.

“We are grateful that the ARPA Ad Hoc Committee and the Green County Board of Supervisors had the forethought to invest in this project to better serve some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Human Services Director Dan Williams.

While funding is earmarked for the facility expansion and existing space remodel, the Friends of Green County Child Advocacy Center, a 501(c)3 fund through Community Foundations of Southern Wisconsin, will be kicking off a community campaign, titled “Grow with Us”, to raise funds for new furniture, home-like furnishings, and future support of the Child Advocacy Center.

Currently, the CAC operates with grant funding and its annual budget includes no Green County tax levy. Studio GWA, known for its expertise in historical preservation and adaptive re-use, is providing architectural services for the project under the direction of Partner and Senior Project Architect Aaron Holverson. Kundert Construction was selected as the General Contractor and will utilize a number of local subcontractors. Designs for the building remodel and expansion will be available during the ceremony.

The community is invited to attend Green County Child Advocacy Center’s ground-breaking ceremony and have the opportunity to learn more about the facility expansion. 

For more information, visit https://wi-greencounty.

civicplus.com/377/Green-County-Child-Advocacy-Center or check out Green County CAC’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GreenCountyCAC.

The Green County Child Advocacy Center provides a trauma-focused, child friendly facility in which representatives from many disciplines, including law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, family and victim advocacy work together, conducting joint forensic interviews and making team decisions about the investigation, treatment, management and prosecution of child abuse cases.