It’s National Child Abuse Prevention Month
April is the month for recognizing the importance of communities and families working together to prevent child abuse and neglect.
According to the 2020 Child Maltreatment Report released by the Children’s Bureau, around 2 million children received prevention services, while approximately 1.2 million received post-response services because of the findings discovered during an investigation or alternative response by child protective services agencies in the United States.
Long-term Consequences of Child Abuse
Child abuse and neglect cause much more harm than the immediate physical injuries they experience. Child maltreatment can have intergenerational impacts that lead to psychological, physical, and behavioral consequences later in life. These consequential behaviors can pass on from generation to generation and have been linked to costs to society as a whole. Furthermore, child abuse and neglect can stunt the development of a child’s brain. This often leads to low self-esteem, which can lead to substance abuse and other high-risk behaviors.
Protective Factors for Victims
According to Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2015, research has shown that there are a number of protective factors for victims of child abuse or neglect. Those include factors on an individual, relationship, and community level.
On an individual level, those include a sense of purpose and skills such as self-regulation, relational, and problem-solving. Relationship factors include parental well-being and competencies, as well as positive peers. And finally, community factors such as shelter, school, and positive public environments.
Raising Awareness in Your Community
Strengthen families and help them thrive by spreading the word and letting them know they can take action. It’s important to educate yourself and others through after-school activities, parent education classes, mentoring programs, and respite classes to keep children safe from harm. Be the voice in your community that supports these efforts.
Communities around the nation are coming together to support families and children by reinforcing strategies that work. Outreach programs, resources, and activities offer tools for identifying abuse and neglect. However, too often, intervention only occurs after abuse is reported. Therefore, greater investments are needed in programs that have proven to stop child maltreatment. With each opportunity, we bring hope to families and come closer to an end to child abuse and neglect.
We Need Your Help
Abuse cases are still on the rise and there must be something done urgently. At i-Guardian, we’re committed to preventing child maltreatment by providing technology that digitally secures and notifies those responsible for the protection and guardianship of children. This technology, created by our team of medical, technical, and government professionals, will allow for the updating, monitoring, tracking, and notifying of cases — all from one platform.
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Would you like the opportunity to help abused children escape the hopelessness and pain they endure? Contribute today and you would be helping us out tremendously. All of our successes so far have been due to the kindness and generosity of our many donors.
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It’s time for us to make a change. This is why we are developing i-Guardian.
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