FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 8, 2014
Media Contact:
Julie Burch
Austin Children's Shelter
512.236.2503 or 512.413.4758
julie@austinchildrenshelter.org
AUSTIN CHILDREN'S SHELTER CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY
WITH NEW NAME
Updated name reflects wide range of services and programs offered by the organization
Austin, TX, May 8, 2014 -- Austin Children’s Shelter (ACS) has been working to end child abuse
and neglect in the Austin community since 1984. ACS began 30 years ago as a small, volunteerdriven, emergency shelter for abused and neglected infants and young children. Today the
organization has grown to include an array of services designed to prevent abuse before it
happens and better intervene when abuse and neglect have already occurred. In just the last
year ACS has dramatically expanded its services to include community-based programs that
help to support at-risk children and families in their homes. With these changes has come the
recognition that the name, Austin Children’s Shelter, is no longer representative of the services
provided. The Austin Children’s Shelter is celebrating its 30th Anniversary by changing its name to
better depict what the organization has become - Austin Children’s Services.
To commemorate the 30th Anniversary and a new name, the City of Austin will proclaim Friday,
May 16 “Austin Children’s Services Day” at a ceremony at City Hall. CEO Kelly White and a
number of members of ACS’ current and past Boards of Directors are expected to attend the
proclamation ceremony.
“Austin Children’s Services provides much more than just emergency shelter services, and we’re
excited to announce a new name that better reflects that mission as we celebrate our 30th
anniversary,” explains ACS CEO Kelly White. “We are committed to ending the cycle of abuse in
our community, and with new community-based programs and a continuum of services, we
know we can better meet the needs of the local community.”
After 25 years of residential home settings in West Austin, ACS moved to a new 13-acre campus
at Rathgeber Village in the Mueller community in late 2009. This move allowed ACS to expand its
programs to include a long-term transitional housing program for teens working toward
4800 Manor Road
Au s ti n , Te x a s 7 8 7 2 3
Phone 512 499-0090
w w w . a u s ti n c h i l d r e n s s e r vi c e s .o r g
Austin Children's Shelter Celebrates 30th Anniversary with New Name
Page 2 of 2
independence, and a teen parent program aimed at breaking the cycle of child abuse. Those
programs have served hundreds of children, teens, and young adults over the past four years.
The addition of these programs also provided daily evidence of the necessity of providing a
greater continuum of service. Living with traumatized youth over the course of years developed
the organization’s understanding and commitment to creating and sustaining healthy, nurturing
and safe families.
ACS now works toward safety, permanency and well-being through the provision of various
community programs, including: Strong Start, a child abuse prevention program for at-risk
families with children under age 6; the Care Academy, a child development and family support
center; and Foster in Austin, a program to recruit, train, monitor and support loving families that
provide foster placements for children in their own homes. In their first year of operation, ACS’
community-based programs are already serving more people than the organization can serve
through its residential programs.
Austin Children’s Shelter will continue its operation as one of the programs of Austin Children’s
Services, so the logo – as well as the “ACS” acronym – won’t change. But the new ACS will be
able to reach more children in need and do more to prevent abuse than Austin Children’s
Shelter ever could.
About Austin Children’s Services
Founded in 1984, ACS provides comprehensive and innovative programs to address child abuse
in our community, including: residential programs for emergency shelter, teen parents and youth
preparing for independence; foster care training, placement, and support; early childhood
programs that emphasize family support and parent education; and short-term respite care for
vulnerable families. Learn more about ACS at austinchildrensservices.org.
###