April is Child Abuse Prevention Month
Because blue is the color of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Clearfield County District Attorney Ryan Sayers, left, and Child Advocacy Center of Clearfield County Director, Dr. Mary Tatum, right, are encouraging residents to show their support of child abuse victims by wearing blue and posting their photos online. If you send your photos via email to cac@cenclear.org with your name or send them through Facebook messenger, they will be posted to the center’s Facebook page. (Photo courtesy of District Attorney Ryan Sayers)
By Julie Rae Rickard
CLEARFIELD – Each year April is set aside as National Child Abuse Prevention Month to make people more aware of the number of children impacted by abuse and urge them to report any suspected activity.
The Clearfield County District Attorney’s Office and the Clearfield County Child Advocacy Center (CAC-CC) encourage all individuals and organizations to play a role in making Clearfield County a better place for children and families, according to a recent press release.
“April is a time that we can help spread awareness about child abuse and ways that it can be prevented,” DA Ryan Sayers stated.
“It is important to remember that child abuse is 100% preventable and helping raise awareness about prevention is a powerful tool in creating change,” Dr. Mary Tatum, Director of the CAC-CC, said.
Established in 2016, the CAC-CC provides a safe and secure place for abused children to be interviewed by a qualified individual while a closed-circuit monitor allows a Multi-Disciplinary Investigative Team to observe the interview and provide feedback relevant to the case.
The MDIT consists of representatives from the District Attorney’s Office, Children Youth, and Family Services, law enforcement agencies through Clearfield County, medical personnel, CenClear, the Victim Witness Office, the Crossroads Project, and PASSAGES, Inc.
“We function well together,” Dr. Tatum said in a previous interview, adding that everyone on the team “cares about the children.”
The room is set up to be a “developmentally appropriate” site for kids from pre-school age to teenagers, to keep them comfortable.
The CAC-CC, under the umbrella of CenClear, handles not only abused children, but also witnesses to crimes and drug exposure.
“We support victims that are not even in the judicial system,” Dr. Tatum explained.
Grants pay for most of the services at the center including Kirby, the resident service dog who came to the CAC-CC through a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
Kirby has helped 600 to 800 children since Oct. 2020, Dr. Tatum said.
“He’s very intuitive” and seems to know how best to support the victims.
How bad is the child abuse problem in our state?
Last year in PA, CACs throughout the state served 14,922 children, of which 199 were from Clearfield County, Dr. Tatum said.
An average of one in four girls and one in six boys will suffer some type of sexual assault before they turn 18. With this consider that only 10% disclose sexual abuse before they are 18 years old and 55% to 69% never disclose childhood sexual abuse at all, she said.
Some of the reasons the victims do not to come forward are, the abuser is either a caregiver and/or not being supportive, they are living with the abuser or have regular contact with them, they want to protect their parents and not upset them, or they are being threatened. This threat can be that they could lose their home, or an abuser may physically threaten them, their pets, or other family members, Dr. Tatum explained.
Children are more likely to report abuse if they have a trusted adult, or friend who will believe them. If this person is a teacher, or another mandated reporter, they are required by law to report the abuse to authorities.
If you suspect a child is being abused you can call ChildLine, at 1-800-932-0313. You do not have to have proof and you can report your suspicions anonymously.