April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

Each year April is chosen to recognize that we each can play a part in promoting the social and emotional well-being of children and families in our communities. In 1983, Congress declared April to be National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Since that time, communities across the country have taken the opportunity to raise awareness of issues surrounding child maltreatment and abuse through
proclamations, ceremonies, educational forms, tributes and candlelight vigils. Each year a theme is chosen for the year and in 2024 that theme is: Building a Hopeful Future, Together. April is a time to look back, to acknowledge the children who have suffered and the losses sustained throughout our communities because of that suffering. But it is also a time to look forward – most of all to a time when children no longer have to live in fear. The month takes time dedicated to raising public awareness of child abuse and neglect and recognizing the importance of
communities working together to support and strengthen families and prevent child mistreatment. Many times few realize one in seven children in the United States experiences child abuse and/or neglect each year, resulting in an array of adverse outcomes, including chronic pain, psychological concerns (anxiety, anger and aggression, depression and suicidal thought or ideation, and poor or delayed social and behavioral development. (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services)