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Lucas County Children Services Recognizes Child Abuse
Prevention Month
“Wear Blue Day,” Child Memorial Scheduled to Engage
Community
Special to The Truth
Lucas County Children Services is announcing its activities
to raise awareness that April is National Child Abuse
Prevention Month.
On April 12, LCCS is once again encouraging Lucas County
residents to
join in Ohio’s “Wear Blue” day to combat child abuse. Now in
its
sixth year, “Wear Blue” urges people from all walks of life
to wear
blue on this day to show their support for keeping kids safe
from abuse
or neglect. LCCS is asking people to post photos of
themselves wearing
blue on April 12 on the agency’s Facebook page,
http://www.facebook.com/LucasCountyChildrenServices,
by tweeting their
photo using the hashtag #WearBlue or emailing images to
information@co.lucas.oh.us.
Between April 2016 and April 2017, nine children died in
Lucas County
as a result of physical abuse, neglect, or community
violence. LCCS will
remember these youth at its annual memorial on April 28 at
11:30 a.m. at
the agency’s offices at 705 Adams St., Toledo. This solemn
ceremony
will include comments from Randy Oostra, president and CEO
of ProMedica
Health System, music from the Whitmer High School string
quartet, and a
presentation of the colors from the Springfield High School
ROTC
program. The public is encouraged to attend.
Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics
In 2016, LCCS received 4,564 referrals for suspected child
abuse or
neglect, up one percent from 2015. These reports involved
6,822 alleged
child victims, and led to us confirm that 1,465 children
were maltreated
in 2016, up 37 percent from the previous year. Forty-three
percent of
them were five years old or younger. The most referrals
(867) came from
the 43605 zip code, but the highest rate of referrals came
from the
43604 zip code, where more than 121 of every 1,000 children
was the
subject of a report of suspected abuse or neglect. Substance
abuse was
an identified problem for 56 percent of new cases opened for
ongoing
services in 2016; 62 percent of those cases involved heroin
or opiate
abuse. Mental health accounted for 37 percent of cases
opened.
About Lucas County Children Services
The mission of Lucas County Children Services is to lead the
community
in the protection of children at risk of abuse and neglect.
This is
accomplished by working with families, service providers and
community
members to assess risk and coordinate community-based
services resulting
in safe, stable and permanent families for children.
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