April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and these Lowcountry agencies are getting a head start on raising awareness.(Melissa Stephens)
DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) – April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and these Lowcountry agencies are getting a head start on raising awareness.
The St. George Police Department announced its dedication to spend the coming month advocating for child abuse prevention efforts in a Facebook post Sunday morning. They said this is an issue “which affects our communities every day.”
People may notice pinwheels popping up in their neighborhoods, as these are the symbol for the fight against child abuse.
The department said these pinwheels represent “the happiness and fulfillment every child deserves.”
As a part of this effort to raise awareness and help stop child abuse, the department highlighted some resources, as well as some locations where people can go get some.
They noted that residents can go and get pinwheels and informative resources from places like Dorchester and Berkeley County libraries, YMCAs, Department of Social Services offices, solicitors’ offices and of course police departments and sheriff’s offices.
St. George Police are also partnered with the Dorchester Children’s Advocacy Center, which is sharing its own resources and educational programs on its website.
More information on the work the Dorchester Children’s Advocacy Center does can be found on that website and on their Facebook page.
According to data provided by the United States’ government child welfare website, the most recent data collected in 2022, published in Jan. 2024, indicates that there are 558,899 victims of child abuse and neglect nationally. That is nearly eight out of every 1,000 children in the population.
To learn more about what can be done to help children within the state of South Carolina, go to the Children’s Trust of South Carolina website for access to toolkits and other ways to sponsor this initiative.
Source: Live 5 News WCSC
