About
The people behind
the promise.
We’re a group of local volunteers who look out for Brown County children going through some of the hardest moments of childhood.
Our Mission & Vision
Dignity for every child in hardship.
Children come to us in the middle of hard things: poverty, domestic violence, neglect, and other circumstances that bring CPS into a family’s life. Our mission is to ensure that, whatever a child is going through, they’re met with dignity and the everyday care that helps them feel safe, supported, and looked after.
A community where every child has a chance to move forward.
We envision a Brown County where a child’s circumstances don’t determine what comes next. Where children facing hardship have the safety, support, and everyday necessities they need to keep growing.
What We Stand For
Integrity
We take seriously what’s entrusted to us. Every gift and hour goes straight to a child, never to salaries.
Dignity
A child’s circumstances never determine their worth. We meet every child and family with care and respect, not judgment.
Community
Brown County takes care of its own. Volunteers, donors, churches, and caseworkers together make all of this work possible.
More than eighty years of showing up.
Texas first made county child welfare boards possible in 1931. In Brown County, the story begins a decade later, and more than eighty years on, it’s still being written by local volunteers. Here’s how we got here.
1941
It starts in Brown County.
A child welfare office opens in Brownwood as Camp Bowie brings rapid growth to the area.
1944
Seven volunteers step forward.
The first Brown County Child Welfare Board is organized. Every member serves without pay.
1945
The work takes root.
The Board adopts its first bylaws and begins advocating for children locally and statewide.
1975
Speaking up for children.
The Board launches a major public-awareness campaign around child abuse and neglect.
Today
Still showing up.
Twelve local volunteers serve today, with room for 15 voting members and unlimited volunteers helping Brown County children.
Help starts with someone who knows the child’s situation.
When a CPS caseworker identifies something a Brown County child needs, whether a bed, clothing, food, medical care, or another essential, they bring that request to the Board.
We review the request and use available funds to meet the need directly. Rather than simply handing out cash, support becomes something tangible: a bed delivered, a coat purchased, an exam paid for.
Why we organize our giving into programs
Some needs can be planned for. Every child in care has a birthday. Christmas comes at the same time every year. School starts in August.
Other needs can’t be planned at all, and those turn out to be the largest share of what we spend. A caseworker calls, and a child needs something today.
Organizing our funds into programs is how we do both: keep the predictable promises we’ve made, and still say yes when the phone rings.
We also invest in the people who serve these children
A portion of our funding goes to training — for our own board members, and for the CPS and 2Ingage staff doing this work every day. When the people closest to a child are better equipped, every child they serve benefits.
Your gift becomes something a local child actually needs.
The children CPS brings to us, and the community around them.
Child welfare looks different for every family, and the need here is real: in 2025, 187 children in Brown County were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect. Most of our work reaches a specific child through a CPS caseworker. The rest reaches the people around that child.
Children in Kinship Care
When a child can’t safely stay with a parent, they may be placed with a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or family friend they already know. These placements happen fast, and families aren’t always ready for the sudden cost of another child. We make sure the child arrives with the essentials to settle in. And if a placement takes them out of state, we keep helping, as long as they’re from Brown County.
Children in Homes Under Active CPS Investigation
Not every child CPS serves leaves home. Many stay with their families while CPS works to make the home safer and more stable, and they still need beds, clothing, food, and hygiene supplies. We provide those necessities so the child is better cared for right where they are.
Our Community
Behind every case is a caseworker carrying a full load and a school counselor who noticed something was wrong. We fund the training that keeps CPS staff equipped, we care for the room where children wait at the CPS office, and we answer requests from counselors who know a student is going without. Prevention starts with a community that knows what to look for and who to call.
Different circumstances, same promise: when a Brown County child needs support, we help.
Twelve neighbors, willing and appointed to serve.
The Child Welfare Board of Brown County is a twelve-member, all-volunteer board appointed by the Brown County Commissioners. We live here, work here, and raise our families here. None of us is paid, and none of us takes anything from the Board. We serve because these are our community’s children.
Lisa Caldwell
Board Chair, Region 2 Council Chair, TCCWB Representative
Jennifer McCoy
Vice Chair
Tammy Fisher
Treasurer
Lisa Allgood
Joseph Dennis
Kaitinn Burt
Christina Jackson
Danielle Howard
Kinley Gotcher
Katy Fisher
Ryan Soto
Serving Brown County
Since 1944
Appointed by Commissioners
Brown County, Texas
All-Volunteer
0 Paid Staff, 100% Direct
TCCWB Affiliated
Texas Council of Child Welfare Boards
Every child deserves someone in their corner. Will you be one?
Whether you give, volunteer, or rally your business behind a drive, there’s a place for you in this work.