Prevent Child Abuse

Prevent Child Abuse Starke County

Prevent Child Abuse Starke County is a chartered state chapter of Prevent Child Abuse Indiana

The key to preventing the maltreatment of children lies in community involvement.

Prevention Councils are made up of volunteers from all walks of life who bring the message of primary prevention to their communities. This grassroots strategy has proven to be powerfully effective in keeping kids safe.

Pinwheels for Prevention – What the Pinwheel Represents

In 2008, Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the pinwheel as the new national symbol for child abuse prevention through Pinwheels for Prevention®. What their research showed, and what our experiences since then have borne out, is that people respond to the pinwheel. By its very nature, the pinwheel connotes whimsy and childlike notions. In essence, it has come to serve as the physical embodiment, or reminder, of the great childhoods we want for all children.

So the pinwheel represents Prevent Child Abuse America’s efforts to change the way our nation thinks about prevention, focusing on community activities and public policies that prioritize prevention right from the start to make sure child abuse and neglect never occur.

Over a million pinwheels have been displayed since April 2008. Join us by bringing Pinwheels for Prevention to Starke County!

We do not take abuse/neglect calls, contact 1-800-800-5556 to report suspected child abuse or neglect.

Reasons to Prevent Child Abuse

Ten Reasons to Prevent Child Abuse

1) Child abuse can be fatal. Each year in the United States, an average of over four children a day are fatal victims of maltreatment. The vast majority of these children are under the age of three.

2) Child abuse can stymie a child’s normal growth and development. The emotional and physical damage children suffer from abuse and neglect is extensive. Documented consequences of abuse include chronic health problems, cognitive and language disorders, and socio-emotional problems, such as low self-esteem, lack of trust, and poor relationships with adults and peers.

3) Child abuse is costly for many social institutions. Remediation of the immediate consequences of child maltreatment abuse costs child welfare agencies, hospitals, and rehabilitation facilities billions of dollars annually.

4) Child abuse costs continue to multiply over time. For example, children killed as a result of abuse or neglect never have the opportunity to contribute to society. In the past five years these deaths cost more than $3 billion in lost future productivity.

5) Child abuse victims may repeat the violent acts that they experienced on their own children. Although most victims can overcome the scars of their abuse, some may become abusive when they become parents or caregivers.

6) Treatment services, while critical, are often ineffective in permanently altering parental behaviors. Program evaluations have found that even sophisticated clinical demonstration projects, often consisting of weekly contact for twelve to eighteen months, only eliminate the future likelihood for physical abuse or neglect for less than half their clients.

7) Prevention programs targeted at parents before they become abusive or neglectful reduce the likelihood for future maltreatment. Home visitor programs for new parents have consistently demonstrated the most positive outcomes. Specific gains include improved mother-infant bonding, enhanced parenting skills, and more consistent use of health care services. Recipients of these services also have demonstrated a reduced rate of child abuse when compared to comparable groups of parents not receiving services.

8) Prevention programs targeted at children can improve a child’s awareness of how best to avoid child abuse and other unsafe practices. Repeated reviews of numerous evaluations of these programs indicate that such efforts can result in increased knowledge for children about safety rules and what they should do if they are being abused. Further, the programs create an environment in which children can more easily disclose prior or ongoing maltreatment.

9) Child abuse prevention efforts serve as a way to combat other social problems of concern to the public and to policy makers. Research has found a strong correlation between a history of abuse and a variety of adult problem behaviors, including substance abuse, juvenile and adult crime, and poor social adjustment. The consistent expansion of prevention services may well lead to the eventual reduction of these problems.

10) Child abuse prevention creates a more compassionate society, one which places a high value on the welfare of children. Insuring the safe and secure rearing of the next generation requires the efforts of all policy makers and all citizens. To the extent all are involved in the battle to prevent child abuse, all are made more aware of the need to nurture human potential in all that we do.

Source: Dr. Deborah Daro, Prevent Child Abuse America

Domestic Violence and Children

Get the facts

On average, more than three women a day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States (U.S. Department of Justice) and women experience two million injuries from intimate partner violence each year (CDC). Many of these women are mothers who often go to great and courageous lengths to protect their children from abusive partners.  In fact, some research has shown that the non-abusing parent is often the strongest protective factor in the lives of children who are exposed to domestic violence. However, growing up in a violent home may be a terrifying and traumatic experience that can affect every aspect of a child’s life, growth and development. In spite of this, we know that when properly identified and addressed, the effects of domestic violence on children can be lessened.

• Almost 30 million American children will be exposed to family violence by the time they are 17 years old and one in four American children will experience violence between their parents/caregivers – that’s about 20. 5 million children.
• More than 60 percent of the children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly (i.e., as a witness to a violent act; by learning of a violent act against a family member, neighbor, or close friend, or from a threat against their home or school.
• Men exposed to physical abuse, sexual abuse, and adult domestic violence as children were almost 4 times more likely than other men to have perpetrated domestic violence as adults, according to a large study.
• Incest accounts for half of all sexual abuse cases.
• Children that are exposed to violence are more likely to attempt suicide, abuse drugs and alcohol, run away from home, engage in teenage prostitution, and commit sexual assault crimes.
• More than 1 in 9 (11 percent) of children surveyed were exposed to some form of family violence in the past year, including 1 in 15 (6.6 percent) ex­posed to intimate partner violence between parents (or between a parent and the parent’s partner).
• One in four children (26 percent) was exposed to at least one form of family violence during their lifetimes. Most youth exposed to family violence, including 90 percent of those exposed to domestic violence, saw the violence, as opposed to hearing or experiencing it through other indirect forms of exposure.

http://promising.futureswithoutviolence.org