LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The month of April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. It recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Kentucky Youth Advocates partners with nearly 135 statewide organizations, largely focusing on child abuse and neglect prevention in partnership with Kosair for Kids’ Face It Movement. The movement was launched in 2013 to address incidences of abuse in Kentucky.
Currently, Kentucky ranks 6th for reported child abuse and neglect cases according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Child Maltreatment report.
The report revealed between 2016 to 2020, the number of child victims decreased 8% nationally and 16% in Kentucky.
Shannon Moody, chief officer of policy & strategy for Kentucky Youth Advocates, is calling attention to the issue, because she says there’s still work to be done.
“We’re doing that through three key areas of focus. One is statewide policy change and sometimes local policy change. One is around what we call best practices, so making sure volunteers and staff members and community members have the information they need to keep kids safe. That means reporting, recognizing or preventing. Then also community education awareness is the third area of focus—that’s to clarify any myths,” Moody explained.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there, Moody said, and she added that “a majority of parents are not waking up everyday looking to harm their kids.”
This month, the Face It Movement will encourage community engagement through two new resources, including an event tonight called the Art of Healing at the Ice House in Louisville.
The event will feature activities like spoken word, drum circles, yoga and more for people healing from abuse or trauma or any community member interested. The event is free from 5:30pm-7:30pm.
Second, the movement launched last week by the movement called Cyber Safety 101, will bring awareness to online risks for children and give tips to parents to prevent unsafe situations.
Kentucky Youth Advocates says if you can’t make it to the event, you can contact them and they have educational materials ready to ship.
Kentuckians can also give back this Child Abuse Prevention Month. The Kentucky Child Victims’ Trust Fund provides funding for child sexual abuse prevention programs, as well as providing reimbursements for sexual abuse exams at childrens’ advocacy centers across the state.
If you suspect child abuse or neglect, you can call the child protection hotline at the number at call 1-877-KYSAFE1 to report child abuse.