Prevent Child Abuse: Get Involved!

NOTE: To mail in a donation - please write check to UO Foundation/CPAN and send to 1244 Walnut St. Eugene, OR 97403.

Protecting children is everyone's business, but not everyone knows what to do to stop child abuse or neglect. A recent scientific survey by the UO's Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect shows that 98 percent of Lane County residents believe that ending child abuse is the responsibility of every adult, but only about 35% of people reported having some idea of how to help. [1]

Your DuckFunder contribution will fund the activities Lane County's 2016 Child Abuse Prevention Month (CAPM), which will raise awareness that child abuse is an important local issue and will also connect county residents with concrete opportunities to support children and families in ongoing prevention efforts. A gift of any size, from $5 to $500, is critical to support this year’s efforts to turn a caring community into a force for change.

90by30, a campus-community partnership that aspires to reduce child abuse in Lane County by 90 percent by 2030, has teamed up with 14 other local organizations (see below) to lead the activities of Child Abuse Prevention Month in April 2016.

DuckFunder monies will lead to a successful April CAPM 2016 and will include the development of a website that will provide concrete information on what community members can do to prevent child abuse and neglect. One key function of the website will be to match 500 new volunteers with 50 local prevention strategies housed in community programs, faith-based groups, and non-profits. Volunteers typically donate 10 hours of their time per week. Five hundred new volunteers translates into 5,000 hours a month and 60,000 new hours a year dedicated to keeping children safe. Change is not only possible but probable . . . but only if we come together to take on the complex problem that is child abuse and neglect in Lane County.

Your DuckFunder contribution will also fund the following CAPM activities:

• Pinwheels for Prevention. There is no better way to raise awareness than colorful, eye-catching gardens of pinwheels that symbolize every child's right to a carefree, protected childhood. We plan to have 4,500 pinwheels displayed all around Lane County. Each eye-catching pinwheel display will have a sign sending viewers to GetInvolvedLaneCounty.org, the website that goes live on March 15, 2016, and will provide the concrete opportunities community members need in order to get involved in a meaningful ways.

• Art for Awareness. Students at Willamette High School and Pleasant Hill High School were chosen to create art for CAPM 2016 based on the theme of "Protecting Children is Everyone's Business - Get Involved!" The more funds we have to print posters, bus ads and billboards, the more that businesses, libraries, schools, nonprofits, churches, synagogues, sports facilities, child care centers, community colleges, and government buildings can spread the message.

• Proclamations. From Creswell to Blue River, child abuse touches us all. All 11 incorporated towns and cities in Lane County will proclaim April to be Child Abuse Prevention Month and commit to sharing the theme, artwork, and message throughout the city.

• Tool Kits for Prevention. Two blueprints, one for families and organizations and one for faith-based groups, will outline specific ways to prevent child abuse, starting by participation in Child Abuse Prevention Month

• Blue Weekend. Activities begin Friday, April 22, with a county-wide push to “wear blue” and culminate on Saturday and Sunday (April 23 and 24) with messages from synagogues and churches about creating child-friendly communities and information on how to support children and families as people of faith.

In order to make change – we first must be AWARE of a problem, and then CARE about the problem, and then have a PATH FORWARD to get involved to actually make change happen. This is the goal of the 15 local agencies and groups who are organizing CAPM 2016. It is the goal of the 50 organizations seeking volunteers to help in their efforts, and of the 11 communities who are proclaiming April 2016 as the time and the place to make a difference in the lives of children in our community with the clear joint message of GET INVOLVED!

Partnering Agencies:

1) 90by30, a community-campus partnership to prevent child abuse and neglect in Lane County 2) Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Lane County 3) Christians As Family Advocates (CAFA) 4) City of Cottage Grove 5) Department of Human Services (DHS) 6) Family Relief Nursery of South Lane 7) Family Resource Centers 8) Kids’ FIRST 8) Lane County Head Start 9) Parenting Now! 10) Pearl Buck Center 11) Relief Nursery 12) Sexual Assault Support Services 13) United Way of Lane County, Lane Kids 14) Womenspace

[1] Please see 90by30.com/report and 90by30.com/infographics to see more information on this survey and its results