National Child Abuse Prevention Month starts April. A Utah nonprofit organization is looking to educate children and parents on growing efforts to reduce what has been a consistent number of child abuse cases in Utah since 2011.
With over 20,000 referrals of child abuse in Utah over the last year, Prevent Child Abuse Utah (PCAU), a nonprofit organization, sees education as the key to reducing the number of abused children.
In the 2015 fiscal year, 20,614 referrals came into Child Protective Services from Utah, and only 9,626 children were proved to be actual victims.
"We want to get the education out there and help people become familiar with what abuse is and what would be classified as abuse so they can help protect their kids," said Carrie Jensen, the associate director for PCAU.
Since 2011, Child Protective Services has consistently received around 20,000 reports of child abuse cases in Utah each year. In the 2015 fiscal year, 20,614 referrals came into Child Protective Services from Utah, and only 9,626 children were proved to be actual victims.
The Utah Legislature passed Erin’s Law, mandating teachers and parents to receive child sexual abuse education, in 2014. Jensen says this was designed to train adults to be reporters of child abuse cases.
"It’s not just a police officer or a social worker, it’s anyone that's over the age of 18, so it’s important for all of those adults to be educated on what signs and symptoms to look for so they can help to protect kids," Jensen said.
As Child Abuse Prevention Month starts in the beginning of April, the hope is for awareness concerning child abuse to increase statewide, Jensen said.
"The more aware of it they are, the more they can do to help intervene and protect children, whether it's their own children, or anyone in their neighborhood, or at their kid's school, at their churches, they can just be more aware," Jensen said.
PCAU frequently holds school education programs and parent nights where they talk about the signs and symptoms of child abuse so people can instantly recognize it and get help if needed.