Written by Dr. Avani Gandhi, this post marks April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, referencing a 2016 presidential proclamation from Barack Obama and noting that 2019's theme was 'Strong and Thriving Families,' symbolized by blue pinwheels.
The post frames child protection as a shared community responsibility and cites the World Health Organization's definition of child abuse as physical or emotional mistreatment, sexual abuse, neglect, or exploitation that harms a child's health, survival, development, or dignity within a relationship of trust or power.
It points readers to childwelfare.gov's 2019 Prevention Resource Guide and tip sheets, which cover topics such as tantrums, keeping families strong, financial stress, and building resilience in kids.
It lists six protective factors for families: nurturing and attachment, knowledge of parenting and child development, parental resilience, social connections, concrete support for families, and children's social and emotional competence.
The post closes with a call to commit to preventing abuse and neglect and to support all children in the community.