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Raise Awareness

ACE Summit 2016 discussion collage

Awareness. The important first step to preventing child abuse.

By utilizing prevention strategies that promote the protective factors and reduce risk factors, Children’s Trust and its partners work to improve outcomes for children and families across the state through primary prevention, which consists of activities that are directed toward the whole community in an effort to prevent maltreatment before it occurs.

All members of the community may benefit from primary prevention services that include:

  • Parent education programs and support groups that focus on child development, age-appropriate expectations, and the roles and responsibilities of parenting;
  • Family strengthening programs that enhance a family’s ability to access existing services and resources to support positive interactions among family members;
  • Public awareness campaigns that provide information on how and where to report suspected child abuse and neglect.
Group-of-people-in-discussion

Enormity of abuse and neglect

20,198

children were in founded investigations of child abuse and neglect.

$1B

$1 billion estimated annual cost of abuse and neglect in South Carolina

Child Abuse Prevention Month

Held annually in April, Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Month is the nationally-designated month to acknowledge the importance of communities working together to prevent child abuse and neglect. April gives us the opportunity to focus on all the strategies we can use to protect children, strengthen families, and raise awareness to stop child abuse and neglect from occurring.

Children’s Trust is home to Prevent Child Abuse South Carolina (PCA SC), the state chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America. We also organized an affiliate program of PCA SC, and these local organizations across South Carolina serve as our Prevention Partners in their communities. Our partner network grew to 52 in 2017.

More about Child Abuse Prevention Month

Recognizing and reporting child abuse

Recognizing

Often the first important step for helping a child is to recognize the signs and symptoms of maltreatment, including physical, sexual and and emotional abuse as well as neglect.

Recognizing child abuse

Reporting

All of us have a responsibility to report suspected child abuse. Here is what you need to know.

Reporting child abuse and neglect

Young girl with stuffed animal doctors office