Melanie Halbrook is the Director of Community Relations and one of the Forensic Interviewers at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Benton County. She began her career as a Forensic Interviewer at the Texarkana Children’s Advocacy Center in 2013 by interviewing children involved in child abuse and neglect investigations. Currently, Melanie spends most of her time overseeing the training efforts out in the community and increasing awareness efforts through community engagement and marketing.

Melanie is a certified law enforcement instructor who works closely with the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy, a provider for the Arkansas Department of Education and Arkansas Professional Development Registry, an authorized facilitator for Stewards of Children, serves as a faculty member for ChildFirst Arkansas, and assists with mentoring in the state-wide peer review for all forensic interviewers in Arkansas.

Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Life Sciences with a concentration in Child Development from the University of Arkansas.  

Director of Operations at CAC of Benton County

Stephanie serves as the Child Advocacy Studies Program Coordinator for the Northwest Arkansas Community College, where she also provides training for local professionals tasked with investigating allegations of child maltreatment. Prior to joining NWACC, Stephanie worked as the intervention and prevention specialist for the National Child Protection Training Center and spent 11 years as a deputy prosecutor in Benton County, Arkansas. Stephanie obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Arkansas and her Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock – William H. Bowen School of Law. 

Markett Humphries, J.D., M.P.A. is the Multidisciplinary Team Project Director at the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas (CACar). With over 20 years of experience in law enforcement, child protection, and the legal field, Markett brings a wealth of expertise to her role that includes legislation, public policy, grant writing, leadership, and program development.

Markett served as a patrol officer, detective, advanced crime scene technician, field trainer, sergeant, and police instructor with the Jacksonville Police Department. After retiring from law enforcement, she was a senior investigator with the Arkansas State Police – Crimes Against Children Division where she investigated child maltreatment cases, represented the agency in administrative and dependency-neglect hearings, and conducted trainings on child maltreatment and trauma.

Markett serves as chair for the CACar’s forensic interview committee and the Arkansas Human Trafficking Council’s strategic planning and protocol workgroup. She is a certified law enforcement instructor, Project FORECAST facilitator, faculty member for ChildFirst® Arkansas, member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). Markett also works closely with state partnering agencies and stakeholders on legislation and public policy efforts.

Markett holds a Juris Doctorate from William H. Bowen School of Law, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She also holds bachelor degrees from UA Little Rock in psychology and criminal justice with an emphasis in legal studies.

Debbee Deckard is a Forensic Interviewer at the Children's Safety Center of Washington County.  

Early is the Director of Programs for the CFAC, currently serves as the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) Coordinator for Benton County, and is one of the Bilingual Forensic Interviewers. Early holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with a minor in psychology from Northeastern State University and a master’s degree in public safety leadership from Mercer University. She is a dedicated member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), a valued faculty member for ChildFirst Arkansas, and a crucial contributor to the mentoring and peer review processes for forensic interviewers throughout Arkansas. 

Nicole Burden 

Children and Family Advocacy Center

Elisabeth Butihi is the Education Specialist for the Children & Family Advocacy Center.She began her career in 2018 as an Investigator for Springfield, Missouri’s Children’s Division where she investigated allegations of child maltreatment occurring with families in the community. Elisabeth has also served as an advocate for victims of domestic violence by providing support and awareness education to help them process and heal from their trauma. Elisabeth believes that to fight the growing epidemic of child abuse cases one must educate and equip our society with education, prevention, and awareness efforts. Currently, Elisabeth spends her time conducting trainings at a local and state level on the topics of child maltreatment and prevention. 

Elisabeth is a certified law enforcement instructor who works closely with the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training academy, an authorized facilitator for Project FORECAST, a provider for the Arkansas Department of Education and Arkansas Professional Development Registry. 

Elisabeth carries a certificate in Forensic Child Psychology and holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology with a concentration in Child and Family Development from Missouri State University.