According to the Children’s Bureau’s Child Welfare Information Gateway, “National Child Abuse
Prevention Month recognizes the importance of communities working together to help families
thrive and prevent child maltreatment. During the month of April and throughout the year,
communities are encouraged to increase awareness about child and family well-being and work
together to implement effective strategies that support families and prevent child abuse and
neglect.”

The observance of this month holds a special place in my heart. According to a report by the
Administration for Children & Families, a child abuse report is made every ten seconds in the
United States, which doesn’t account for those that go unnoticed and not reported. At least
one in seven children has experienced child abuse and/or neglect in the past year. The report
goes on to note a national estimate of 1,840 children died from abuse and neglect in 2019
compared to 1,780 children who died in 2018. Rates of child abuse and neglect are five times
higher for children in families with a low socioeconomic status compared to children in families
with a higher socioeconomic status.

With my experience and training during my career involving young people, I have seen firsthand
what abuse and neglect to a child, can do to their lives. In August 1999 I began what I still look
at as being the most memorable 7 years of my career in law enforcement. I was the Big Rapids
Department of Public Safety’s first school liaison officer. It is not often in this profession that
you leave your shift and feel like you made a positive impact in someone's life that you
encountered. This position was different. It was rewarding and fulfilling to be educating the
young children in our area. There were a lot of positives that learned from that position; it also
came with some sadness, seeing what some kids go through in their daily lives away from the
school setting. I had the opportunity to go into the four walls of their home life and see the
lack of love and personal attention they were not receiving from those who were supposed to
love and protect them.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about one in four girls and one in
13 boys experience child sex abuse at some point in their childhood. Some of the signs of sexual
abuse include difficulty walking or sitting, sleeping with clothes on, age-inappropriate
bedwetting, run a ways, not wanting to go to the bathroom, and sexual behavior or knowledge
inappropriate for a child.

Unfortunately, in my career I have investigated too many reports of sexual abuse of children.
Regrettably, in a number of these cases, the disclosers didn’t take place until sometime after
the abuse or neglect had taken place. More disheartening to me was in several sexual abuse
cases, the perpetrator were family members of these young children, the very people who
should be watching over and protecting them. Due to the abuse, sexual, or otherwise that took
place without any intervention, these acts become generational within the families.

When working with and around children, young and into their teen years, try to be aware of
some of the general symptoms of abuse. These may include low grades in school, mental
health issues such as depression, anxiety, or low self-esteem, unusual interaction with parent, and slower than normal development. When in doubt, always trust your gut and the life
experiences you have had. If something does not appear to be right with the young child, it
probably isn’t. Monitor the child for symptoms, physical or reoccurring injuries who don’t
appear to have a reasonable explanation for how they occurred.

It is of great concern, the abuse and its effects it has on children at the time, but the long term
and lasting negative effects on these victim’s mental health and wellbeing, with depression,
anxiety and suicide being all too common of these experiences. Included in the consequences
of abuse is difficulty building and maintaining relationships, trouble holding down a job and
struggles with connecting and trusting others.

All families need help sometimes. Community and family support is powerful in that it allows us
to keep our youth safe from harm. We all should strive to keep children safe with their families,
rather than safe away from their families. We, as community stakeholders, including the
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Child Protective Services, can help to
evaluate and work on the support systems, resources, services, and methods to fill the needs of
these families and allow them the ability to continue to thrive collectively as they move
forward.

Children are our future. Especially in today's society with everything being thrown at them, it is
vital that children have some self-importance and know there are people out there who care
about them and are looking out for their well-being. National Child Abuse Awareness Month
should not only be April, but every hour of the day, every day of the week, every week of a
month and every month of the year. Only together, as one unit can we look out for our
children to make sure they have the brightest futures.