Officers promote child abuse awareness
While overall U.S. crime rates have dropped substantially over the past 10 years, reports and confirmed cases of child abuse continue to increase, according to Prevent Child Abuse America.
With April being National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, officials at the Children’s Advocacy Center are using the month to raise local awareness of the problems they deal with every day.
Opened in August, the Children’s Advocacy Center is designed as a place where victims of sexual and other forms of abuse can speak with relative ease with children’s services and law enforcement officials. Having more of a home atmosphere than a clinical setting, law officers say the center, which serves both Warren and Van Buren counties, has been a real help when interviewing scared and intimidated children.
“Just walking into the police department is enough to scare kids to death. They think they’re in trouble,” said McMinnville police officer Lisa Norris. “It’s a lot nicer here. Kids love to come here. They feel they have someone on their side.”
Norris and many of her fellow officers, both in the city and county, will show their support of child abuse prevention efforts this month by tying blue ribbons to the squad cars. Similar ribbons will hang at city and county offices during the month.
Other April awareness efforts coordinated by the center’s program coordinator Anita Moore include a child abuse prevention fundraiser at Van Buren County High School, a car show at Advance Auto, which partially benefits the center, and an abuse and prevention presentation at Brookside Headstart.
The center will also sponsor an art contest for all fifth-grade students in Warren County.