Working to keep kids safe

With the end of April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month, it is extremely important to thank the overall community for their commitment and continuous effort to assist the families and children of Erie County. Prior to beginning my career at the agency in 2007, I was unaware — and maybe a little naïve — as to the extent that child abuse, neglect and dependency occur in my hometown of Erie County. I was extremely blessed to have two wonderful parents who were hard-working, loving and always going above and beyond for me and my siblings. I was fortunate to have never experienced abuse or neglect. Unfortunately, Erie County Job and Family Services touched the lives of nearly 1,000 children through investigations of child abuse, neglect and/or dependency in 2020. It's a regular occurrence where a child has serious physical harm inflicted on them. It's also routine for a newborn at a local hospital to be born positive for an illicit substance. It's also routine for one of our investigators to be assigned to a sexual abuse investigation. Additionally, it's routine for the agency to receive concerns for neglect. Items that you and I may take for granted — food, clothing, shelter, supervision — may be sadly lacking or even absent altogether. Parental substance abuse remains a very pervasive problem. In fact, close to 75% of our agency's court-involved cases have a component of parental substance abuse. Taking action Child Abuse Prevention Month recognizes and brings awareness to the importance of communities working together to help families thrive and to prevent child maltreatment. The goal is to educate the public and encourage people to speak up and protect the most vulnerable among us: children. During this pandemic, it is especially important to be attentive and observant to any suspicions of child abuse or neglect. Beginning in March 2020, children who would otherwise have routine contact with teachers, administrators, coaches, bus drivers, counselors and other mandated reporters were isolated at home. The decrease in daily face-to-face contact children had with mandated reporters caused a nearly 50% decrease in the number of reports made to children services agencies statewide. Erie County was no exception. Now that things have been and continue to open, our referrals have returned to pre-COVID status. Unfortunately, child abuse and neglect occur in every community across the globe, and a single occurrence of abuse or neglect is one too many. However, we're extremely lucky that here, in Erie County, we have so many strengths to assist in addressing the issue. We have fantastic resources, service providers, community partners, community leaders, foster parents and a children services staff that have a relentless commitment to ensuring the safety of our children. Please stay vigilant and take every opportunity possible to keep an eye out and an ear attuned for any child for whom you may encounter and have concerns. Call 419-626-KIDS with these concerns. We, as a community, take on the mission of working together to make it a safe place for children to grow.