NTBHA joins Rockwall County resource fair to support children’s services

When a child in Rockwall County needs help quickly, the difference often comes down to whether the right people are in the same room. That was the point of the Rockwall County Resource Fair at the Rockwall County Library, where North Texas Behavioral Health Authority joined schools, law enforcement, Child Protective Services, CASA, Empower and probation partners to connect the county’s child-serving network.

The library was a fitting setting. Rockwall County describes the building as a community hub, and its large meeting room is used for library events and nonprofit groups, making it a practical place for agencies to compare notes, swap contacts and sort out next steps for families facing overlapping problems. Rockwall County Juvenile Services says its Community Resource Coordination Group meets monthly to share resources, solve problems and recommend options for parents of children and adolescents with multiple problems, and the fair fit neatly into that existing structure.

NTBHA’s role is especially important because it operates across Dallas, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro and Rockwall counties and says it provides mental and behavioral health services regardless of ability to pay, place of residence or homelessness status. The authority says it served 60,000 people last year. In a county where a family may need a behavioral-health referral, a CPS response, a school-based intervention or legal support all at once, that kind of regional reach gives local agencies a place to send people before a crisis deepens.

The Children’s Advocacy Center for Rockwall County sits at the center of that response system. It describes itself as an interagency, multidisciplinary partnership that serves children victimized by sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect or having witnessed a violent crime. The center uses a multidisciplinary team and provides a safe, secure, confidential, child-friendly environment, which makes it a key stop when a case requires coordinated intervention rather than a single referral.

That coordination matters even more during April, after Rockwall County Commissioners Court recognized the month as National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month on April 14, 2026. County and nonprofit partners have been filling the calendar with child-safety events, including the March 31 Pinwheels for Prevention ceremony at the Historic Courthouse, organized by the Children’s Advocacy Center, Lone Star CASA and the Rainbow Room, and the Go Blue for Kids gala set for April 25. Together with CPS, which investigates abuse and neglect and provides family services, foster care, adoption support and transition help for youth aging out of care, the network gives Rockwall families a clearer path when a child needs help fast.