Child advocates urge proactive approach to abuse prevention
Planted in several front yards throughout Butler County are lawn signs for National Child Abuse Prevention Month surrounded by blue pinwheels, which are the national symbol of child abuse prevention.
Danielle Schmidt, executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) of Butler County, said widespread knowledge of resources available to identify child abuse and neglect is crucial in its prevention.
“We want people to be aware and to know what they can do, who they can contact if they suspect abuse and neglect,” Schmidt said. “It's not necessarily about the different forms of abuse out there; it's more about providing support and awareness of (available) resources.”
According to Schmidt, who became executive director of CAC in January, the organization is just one of several in the community involved in preventing child abuse and neglect in Butler County.
The Butler County Prevention Council is a subcommittee of the Butler Collaborative for Families, which involves law enforcement, churches, schools and nonprofit agencies that work together to prevent child abuse. Butler County Human Services also is involved in the prevention network.
Joshua Strelbicki, assistant director at CAC, said his organization mainly works with children and families who are victims of abuse after they’ve been referred by law enforcement agencies.
“It's a trauma-informed place where children and families can come (for) an investigation of child abuse,” he said. “We are the ones who do an interview of the alleged victim. We bring those investigators here, and the families here, and the purpose of that is to reduce the amount of time the child and family (have to) repeat their information.”
However, the prevention council now is refocusing efforts to take a proactive approach to preventing abuse through its new “Help SToPP it!” campaign — which stands for See, Talk, Prevent and Protect.
CAC has been offering training meant to explore people's perceptions of abuse, their cultural lens and perspective and differences in parenting styles to help attendees play a more active role in preventing child abuse in their communities.
Developed by the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, the Front Porch Project is a three-hour group workshop that Strelbicki said is intended to be hosted at schools, churches or even in individual neighborhoods.
Strelbicki said if people are aware of the children in their community and can recognize when their behavior shifts in certain ways, neighborhoods can intervene sooner.
“The workshop is aimed at engaging general community members in learning ways they can take action in their own communities and prevent child abuse before it even occurs,” Strelbicki said.
Strelbicki said first and foremost CAC wants people to know the child abuse reporting hotline, which takes information from callers and relays it to the proper agency. That number is 1-800-932-0313.
“If there is a suspicion or concern about child abuse or neglect, you should call the hotline,” he said. “That will ensure information gets to the right place.”
Strelbicki said the prevention council would like to lead more Front Porch Project workshops around the county because the more people who are aware of their role in reporting child abuse the better.
“Ultimately it is the community who is going to prevent child abuse,” Strelbicki said.
For more information on free Front Porch Project workshops, visit the Help SToPP it website at helpstoppit.com, or call Butler County Human Services at 724-284-5114.
