April Is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This month and throughout the year, Beginnings, Inc. encourages all individuals and organizations to play a role in making our communities a better place for children and families. By ensuring that parents have the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to care for their children, we can help promote children’s social and emotional well-being and prevent child maltreatment within families and communities.

Research shows that when parents possess six protective factors, the risk for neglect and abuse diminish and optimal outcomes for children, youth, and families are promoted. The six protective factors are:

Nurturing and attachment
Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development
Parental resilience
Social connections
Concrete supports for parents
Social and emotional developmental well-being

April is a time to celebrate the important role that communities play in protecting children. Everyone’s participation is critical. Focusing on ways to build and promote the protective factors, in every interaction with children and families, is the best thing our communities can do to prevent child maltreatment and promote optimal child development.

Cambria/Somerset County– During National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, Beginnings, Inc.; Cambria/Somerset CASA-Beginnings; Cambria County Child Advocacy Center and The Christian Home of Johnstown challenges residents of Cambria and Somerset County to stand against child abuse and take action to support children who have been abused or neglected.

To kick-off the Break the Cycle/Break the Silence child abuse prevention collaborative campaign, we are asking the community to come to a prevention rally at Central Park in downtown Johnstown on Friday, April 6th wearing blue clothing or ribbons to show their support. Music will begin at 11:30am and at noon, local community leaders will begin the conversation about child abuse prevention and declare April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in our community.

The Break the Cycle/Break the Silence child abuse prevention campaign is a collaborative way for everyone to understand that to prevent child abuse we must all be connected in our communities and step up and speak out. To break the cycle of abuse we first must break the silence that helps to hide it.

Our call to action is for individuals and local business to take a stand against child abuse by planting pinwheel gardens in their yards and prominently displaying blue ribbons in their windows, on their websites and vehicles. We would like to see a sea of blue, across the region to say, we are not going to be silent anymore. Break the Cycle/Break the Silence.

Blue pinwheels will be distributed to participants. Pinwheels symbolize the belief that all children should be raised in healthy communities, free from abuse and neglect. These symbols remind us that we all have an effect on the lives of children. The responsibility is ours to contribute to the kind of nation in which we want to live. When all children don't have equal opportunity for healthy growth and development, we put our future as a society at risk. Every day is our call to action and an opportunity for us to recognize that we all play a role in children's lives.

🌸 Macaroni Kid Johnstown/Laurel Highlands/Altoona is a free weekly e-newsletter and website that highlights all of the great things for kids and their families to do in the community. Plus, you can find fun activities, family-focused businesses, book and product reviews, recipes, crafts, and much more! Macaroni Kid Johnstown/Laurel Highlands/Altoona serves families in Johnstown, Ligonier, Ebensburg, Hollidaysburg, Altoona and other surrounding communities. Sign up today!

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