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The goal of the campaign
is “to encourage people to speak up and protect the most
vulnerable among us – children,” said OCTF Executive
Director Kristen Rost.
In Ohio in 2017, almost
176,000 child abuse or neglect reports were made to various
children services agencies. The U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services estimates that between one third and two
thirds of such incidents involve substance abuse. The Keep A
Promise campaign will target 16 counties in northwest Ohio
and a website has been established at KeepAPromise.org.
The website is part of the
Keep A Promise effort to inform the public of the connection
between drug abuse and child abuse and neglect. “Parents who
are abusing use time seeking drugs rather than caring for
children,” said Klorer, during a press conference to
announce the campaign on May 17 at St. Vincent Medical
Center and Children’s Hospital. Joining Korr was Dr.
Gagendeep Brar, MD, a neonatologist. Dr. Brar spoke of the
high incidence of fentanyl use in Ohio and the corresponding
rise in rates of HIV, low birth rates and high stillborn
rates.
“The incidence of maternal
opioid use has skyrocketed,” said Dr. Brar. For all those
reasons, “health clinics should work very closely with the
social services teams,” she added. “Prevention is the best
way to deal with issues. It is very important that mothers
are taken care of right from the beginning.”
The Keep A Promise website
will take viewers through a range of information. The issue
is explained – the connection between substance abuse and
child abuse and neglect. Drug abusers tend to be impaired at
critical times, spend household finances on drugs, spend
time seeking drugs – all leading to neglect of children at
best, and abuse at worst. Neglect and abuse can become
evident in a child’s behavior, injuries or even issues with
hygiene and appearance. The website provides information for
viewers to look for signs of abuse.
Information is also
provided for spreading the news to others and how to seek
help or report child abuse to agencies in all the 12
counties in northwest Ohio that are part of the OCTF. The
contact information for more than 10 such agencies in Lucas
County is provided.
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