
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 24, 1994                   TAG: 9404250128
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By KATHLEEN PRESTON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

YOU CAN HELP STOP WIDESPREAD CHILD ABUSE

In Virginia, every 36 minutes a child is abused or neglected; every eight days a child dies from abuse and neglect; every 47 minutes an infant is born to a teen-age mother; every two hours an infant is born to a mother who received inadequate or no prenatal care, according to the Virginia Coalition for Child Abuse Prevention.

But hope is supported by other statistics.

Awareness and concern are growing about child abuse. In Virginia, 87 percent of those surveyed have heard or read about child abuse and neglect during the previous year, according to the Virginia Department of Social Services' Child Protective Services unit.

Ninety-five percent felt that child abuse is a community problem and that all reports of suspected child abuse should be investigated. There is also widespread support for assisting families in recovery.

For those committed to preventing child abuse, it is important to recognize abuse and its long-term effects, to know that some forms of corporal punishment acceptable in the past are now known to be physically and emotionally abusive, that emotional abuse distorts the character of children who grow up to be emotionally crippled adults, to know that the number of children known to have been sexually abused is only a fraction of the total who are abused.

A common question is "What can I do as an individual?" April is Child Abuse Prevention month in Virginia.

Listed below are ways you can help.

If you know a parent who seems to be under stress, offer to run an errand or baby-sit. Even a friendly chat with a sympathetic ear can be very helpful.

Learn to recognize the signs of child mistreatment and know the Virginia 24-hour toll-free child abuse hot line number (1-800-552-7096). You can listen to children - at times they will talk openly about abuse that is occurring in their families. You can report suspected abuse.

Volunteer time in an agency that deals with abused and neglected children or make a donation when time is not available. You can sponsor a parenting workshop where you work. You can join a child abuse prevention organization in your community, such as the Child Abuse Prevention Coalition of montgomery County.

Become a foster parent.

Stress is a major contributor to child abuse. Stress comes from a variety of sources - poverty, unemployment, underemployment, social rejection, isolation, divorce, substance abuse, abuse of the parents when they were children, mental illness of a family member, adjustment problems and others. Because the sources of stress are so varied, there is another important way an individual can work to prevent child abuse and neglect - by supporting agencies and organizations that deal either directly or indirectly with child abuse.

These agencies include the local Department of Social Services, the Montgomery County Child Abuse Prevention Coalition, the New River Valley Community Services Board Prevention Services, Montgomery County Schools, the Office on Youth, law enforcement agencies, Head Start, Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse Services, the Women's Resource Center, homeless shelters, food banks and clothing banks.

Support for these organizations can include volunteering time, but it also can include public support for their continued and adequate funding of their work. Let your elected officials know you care about the welfare of children. The work of these agencies and organizations is increasingly focused on preventing removal of children from their families and helping families solve their problems.

Kathleen Preston works for the Montgomery County Department of Social Services and is a member of the The Child Abuse Prevention Coalition of Montgomery County.

by CNB