Pinwheels go up at courthouse for child abuse prevention
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (March 28, 2024) – Child abuse prevention advocates are kicking off a month of outreach and awareness.
The Noah’s Hope Child Advocacy Center’s Pinwheels for Prevention Display went up this morning on courthouse steps for National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. Director Mandy Willet was telling the county commissioners Wednesday that 2023 was their busiest year ever with 179 children served.
“Our numbers continue to climb. When I became director in 2019, the total was 78…and I think this is very telling of the work Tuscarawas County is doing: So Medina County is a very large county with 182,000 [residents] compared to 93,000 for Tuscarawas, and in 2023, they served 103 children.”
The pinwheels represent the nearly 1,500 cases of child abuse or neglect reported to Tuscarawas County’s Job and Family Services office last year. Children’s Service Supervisor Nichole John says those calls resulted in 313 investigations involving 626 children.
“Last year I think we had a little bit more children, still in the 600s, but we’ve had a lot of families come in with large, large sibling groups.”
The commissioners issued their usual proclamation declaring April Child Abuse Prevention Month in Tuscarawas County. Residents can show their support by wearing blue on April 10th and sharing photos on social media.