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Local organizations recognize Child Abuse Prevention Month
Calling on citizens and community stakeholders to increase their participation in efforts to prevent child abuse, Mayor Lynda Dunbar recent signed a proclamation recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the city.
The proclamation took place during a gathering at the Putnam County Courthouse that brought together various agencies involved in the fight against child abuse, such as Family Support Services of West Central Indiana, Putnam County Youth Development Commission/C.A.S.A., Department of Child Services, Mental Health America of Putnam County, Community Partners for Child Safety, Area 30 Career Center, Old National Trail, Transformers, Putnam County Head Start and Isaiah 117 House.
The mayor’s proclamation noted that all citizens have a legal responsibility as individuals and moral obligation as members of a community to ensure the well-being of children and that the effects of child abuse are felt by whole communities and need to be addressed by the entire community.
Effective child abuse prevention programs, Dunbar noted, succeed because of partnerships created among social service agencies and the business community.
With that, she called upon all citizens to become more aware of the negative effects of child abuse and its prevention within the community, and for them to become involved in supporting parents to raise their children in a safe, nurturing environment.
Following the proclamation, most of those gathered moved to the southwest corner of the Putnam County Courthouse lawn to plant a pinwheel garden meant to symbolize the hope that together, citizens can work to give every child in Putnam County a carefree childhood, free of abuse and neglect.