Local family advocacy center and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital unite for Child Abuse Awareness
By Brooke Kinebrew
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BATAVIA, Ohio (WLWT) — A facility in Batavia helping kids and victims facing abuse and violence is teaming up with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to raise awareness about child abuse.
Throughout April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month, blue pinwheels will sit outside Little Fork Family Advocacy Center and Cincinnati Children’s Base and Liberty locations.
After 10 years of planning, Little Fork opened its doors last March.
They’re now linking kids and families to services that help them overcome trauma if they’re abused.
Each blue pinwheel represents 20 cases of child abuse reported in Adams, Brown, Clermont, and Highland counties.
Former Clermont County Prosecutor Scott O’Reilly is the executive director of Little Fork and hopes these pins remind people that child abuse and family violence is an ongoing problem.
“There’s a lot of family violence that goes on in these rural communities,” O’Reilly explained. “A lot of that even goes unreported, so the hope is that these pinwheels, when people see of that, they identify that the child abuse and family violence is something that’s ongoing.”
He says it’s easy to see how family problems can cause issues later in life. He hopes talking about it helps people understand better.
“If you can see a successful child who becomes a successful adult having gone through a lot of trauma, I mean, that’s the real hope that they can make sure that it doesn’t define them,” O’Reilly said. “It’s a part of their story and that they overcome it and that they become productive and are able to kind of almost use that as fuel in a certain way.”
In Hamilton County, there were 7,000 child abuse cases reported within the last year.
At least 1,300 cases were reported in Butler County in the last year and nearly 2,400 cases total in Clermont, Brown, Adams, and Highland counties.
On April 10, Ohioans are encouraged to wear blue to show support for preventing child abuse and neglect.
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