Canopy Children’s Solutions announces Sabreniee A. Wright as its new program director for the South Mississippi Child Advocacy Center (SMCAC).
“Having the opportunity to lead in the services provided by Canopy’s SMCAC grants me the ability to not only share my experiences—as a mother, investigator and child advocate—but to have the great fortune in working with individuals who possess the same passion and drive of protecting endangered children and finding justice for broken families.”
As Program Director, Wright will oversee general operations, such as orchestrating victim advocacy assistance efforts, budget, staffing, strategic planning, and working with Canopy leadership to spearhead fundraising initiatives that allows the center to provide forensic interviews, advocacy services and more at no cost to families. Much of SMCAC’s success is attributed to strong working relationships and collaborative arrangements among the program director and partner agencies, government officials, community groups, grantors, and foundations.
SMCAC provides forensic interviews and support solutions for children when there are allegations of physical or sexual abuse, as well as for children who have witnessed violent crimes. SMCAC’s mission is to improve the lives of children and their families by providing a continuum of compassionate, measurable, and effective behavioral health and social services. Each year, there are nearly 700,000 child victims of abuse in the United States including thousands of cases in Mississippi. In 2019, SMCAC, with offices located in Gulfport and Pascagoula, conducted 476 forensic interviews and 6,292 victim support services to families in George, Greene, Jackson, Harrison and Stone Counties.
Wright previously served at SMCAC as the center’s Lead Multidisciplinary Team Facilitator, which has provided her with a close working relationship with law enforcement, state prosecutors, child welfare managers and more that will be crucial in continuing to propel the mission of SMCAC.
Wright educational background includes an associate’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), bachelor’s degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology from USM–Long Beach and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from South University in Savannah, Georgia.
Raised in her hometown of Wiggins, Wright currently resides in Biloxi. As a sports mom, she spends much of free time attending basketball and football games for her two sons. Wright also practices self-care through painting, attending online courses, and reading.
ABOUT SOUTH MISSISSIPPI CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER SMCAC provides forensic interviews and healing services for children involved in allegations of physical or sexual abuse, neglect, or who may have witnessed a violent crime. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, a child is able to share his or her story once which is used collectively by law enforcement, prosecutors, medical and therapeutic staff and CPS to investigate and prosecute the case while supporting the family.
ABOUT CANOPY CHILDREN’S SOLUTIONS: Canopy Children’s Solutions is Mississippi’s largest and most comprehensive nonprofit provider of children’s behavioral health, educational and social service solutions. Founded in 1912, Canopy offers a full array of integrated solutions across all 82 Mississippi counties, serving more than 5,000 children each year. For more information, please contact 800-388-6247 or visit mycanopy.org.