Local officials came together Friday to renew their commitment to work together in child abuse investigations.

The ceremonial declaration was held at the office of Butterfly Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center, which was formerly known as Child Protect.

“I feel like if we put this all in writing, we’ll have a commitment to continue working together,” said Jana Conlee Zuelzke, executive director and child forensic interview specialist at Butterfly Bridge.

The organization was founded and functioned for several years as a satellite office of Montgomery Child Protect, Zuelzke said, but center officials decided it was in the long-term interest of the center to become its own entity.

Butterfly Bridge facilitates a multi-disciplinary approach to handling child abuse cases. The local multi-disciplinary team’s mission is to “cooperate in a collaborative approach to cases involving child victims in order to facilitate strong case development and reduce the amount of trauma on the child victim,” according to Zuelzke.

Police chiefs from Clanton, Jemison, Maplesville and Thorsby, along with the Chilton County sheriff and representatives from the District Attorney’s office, were set to sign a form stating their commitment to continue working together.

“It takes all of us with our different training and education to come together to work for the good of the kids,” Zuelzke said.