April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. In our community, government and non-profit agencies work together to

• Protect children and assist parents or caretakers in providing proper care and attention to children
• Remedy and decrease the risk of continuing abuse and neglect
• Provide an alternate plan of care for children when parents or caretakers are unable to proved proper and safe care for them;

Maryland’s Dept of Human Resources, offers these resources on identifying signs of neglect or abuse. The National Child Welfare information gateway offers tip sheets in English and Spanish on such subjects as:

• Preventing Child Sexual Abuse /Cómo prevenir el abuso sexual de menores
• Helping Your Child Heal From Trauma/Ayudando a su hijo a curarse del trauma
• How to Develop Strong Communities/Cómo desarrollar comunidades fuertes

Locally, these agencies work together to prevent child abuse and investigate reports of suspected child abuse and neglect .