{"id":50830,"date":"2014-04-22T12:39:07","date_gmt":"2014-04-22T19:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=50830"},"modified":"2015-02-14T23:00:49","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T07:00:49","slug":"it-shouldnt-hurt-to-be-a-kid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2014\/04\/22\/it-shouldnt-hurt-to-be-a-kid\/","title":{"rendered":"It shouldn\u2019t hurt to be a kid"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"LOCAL<\/a>
LOCAL FACES OF CHILD ABUSE: Eight-year-old Gabriel Fernandez\u00a0<\/a>(top left) died May 24, 2013, after prolonged child abuse. Two-year-old Zanai Noel <\/a>(top right) died Sept. 22, 2013, after receiving multiple forceful blows to her back and side. A two-year-old Palmdale boy<\/a> (bottom)was airlifted to the hospital this past March, where he remained for nearly two weeks recuperating from injuries caused by alleged child abuse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Commentary by Sue Page, Executive Director, Children\u2019s Center of The Antelope Valley<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Child Abuse is a scourge.\u00a0 Most people would agree with that statement.\u00a0 No one wants to believe that a child would be intentionally harmed physically, sexually or emotionally.\u00a0 Yet it happens every day.\u00a0 What do we do about it?\u00a0 Childhood should be that special time of grace where everything is still a wonder and a joyous heart is the norm.\u00a0 Sadly, for some, it is a time of pain, confusion and horror.<\/p>\n

\"Sue<\/a>
Sue Page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here, at the Children\u2019s Center, we work against the simple premise that it shouldn\u2019t hurt to be a kid.\u00a0 I say \u201csimple\u201d, conveying an idea to which everyone agrees, while acknowledging that the solutions are more difficult.<\/p>\n

The founders of the Children\u2019s Center, some 25 years ago, worked hard to establish a center that would exclusively address child abuse in the Antelope Valley.\u00a0 Statistics then, as now, were alarming and the justification for creating such a therapeutic facility seemed obvious.\u00a0 As our region has grown, so too has the problem.<\/p>\n

So, just how many children are abused in the United States each year?\u00a0 The answer is\u2026we don\u2019t really know.\u00a0 Child abuse continues to be a silent crime.\u00a0 Significant numbers of child abuse cases do not get reported and data collection systems across the country collect information in different ways.\u00a0 Still, the most recent national data released by the national Child Abuse and Neglect Data Systems indicates that child protective service agencies received and referred for investigation an estimated 3 million children in one year.<\/p>\n

Shocking statistics in the Antelope Valley<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Here in the Antelope Valley, where we have better numbers, the statistics are shocking.\u00a0 According to the Department of Children and Family Services, more than 880 children per month were reported to be victims of child abuse or neglect.\u00a0 This represents a 24% increase since 2005.\u00a0 Today there are over 3,600 open cases of suspected child abuse in the AV.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder we\u2019re trying to draw attention to the problem.\u00a0 This is more than a problem.\u00a0 It\u2019s a crisis.<\/p>\n

The stories of child abuse appear in the paper consistently.\u00a0 But, often, by the time we read of the abuse, the case has already elevated to trial or burial.<\/p>\n

At the least, we wish to advise the community of where to get help if child abuse is suspected.\u00a0 In an emergency or life threatening situation, call 9-1-1 and secure police assistance.\u00a0 For a non-emergency situation, call the Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-540-4000) at DCFS to a make a child abuse report.\u00a0 The Los Angeles county Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the local child protective services agency, has the legal authority to \u201cexplore, study and evaluate\u201d the facts surrounding a reported case of abuse or neglect.\u00a0 A Children\u2019s Social Worker will be sent to investigate the situation.<\/p>\n

For families where the risk of child abuse is high or where physical abuse has occurred, child abuse prevention and treatment services are available through the Children\u2019s Bureau of Southern California (1-800-272-0438).<\/p>\n

Treatment services for sexually and physically abused children are available at the Children\u2019s Center of the Antelope Valley (1-661-949-1206).\u00a0 The Children\u2019s Center takes a comprehensive approach to child abuse prevention and treatment.\u00a0 Programs include: enriched play; child abuse treatment; parent child therapy; family support; family preservation and parenting classes.\u00a0 As a stand-alone agency, we take pride in the idea that we are changing our community through our community.<\/p>\n

Vigilance and education are the two words I\u2019d most like to leave with the reader.\u00a0 But even more important is the concept that child abuse is 100% preventable.\u00a0 We all know that a healthy child makes for a healthy family, a healthy community and a healthy future.<\/p>\n

April is National Child Abuse Awareness month.\u00a0 It is very much in all of our interests to be attentive to the child abuse problem and proactive in its solution.<\/p>\n

Intrinsically, we all know, it shouldn’t hurt to be a kid!<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Disclaimer<\/span>: The views expressed in this article are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The AV Times.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Email letters@theavtimes.com<\/a> to submit a story to Your Issues | Your News<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commentary by Sue Page, Executive Director, Children\u2019s Center of The Antelope Valley Child Abuse is a scourge.\u00a0 Most people would agree with that statement.\u00a0 No one wants to believe that a child would be intentionally harmed physically, sexually or emotionally.\u00a0 Yet it happens every day.\u00a0 What do we do about it?\u00a0 Childhood should be that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":50831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1480],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}