Agencies Call For Prevention of Child Abuse

Shoes were placed in the City Council chambers to represent the number of abuse cases reported. However, since the 70 pairs expected for the display never made it, the attendees volunteered their own. Here's last year's event.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The number of child abuse cases in trending downward in Berkshire County and local leaders know they can continue that decline.

In 2010, there were 805 confirmed cases of child abuse or neglect in Berkshire County, which is a decrease from 1,005 from the previous year, or nearly 20 percent.

The key to prevention, said representatives of the Children's Trust Fund and local agencies on Friday, is giving parents, many who have been abused or neglected themselves, the resources and information they need so to "break the cycle of abuse."

The annual "Step Up for Prevention" event, part of Child Abuse Prevention  Month, usually includes setting children's shoes on the steps of City Hall to represent the number of children abused each month in the county and to provide a visual impact of the problem.

This year, things didn't quite go as planned because of the weather but the message remained the same. The agencies are raising awareness of the issue and calling for increased prevention efforts.

"It is a hard and difficult job and it is easy for any of us to get overwhelmed and that's why the Children's Trust Fund exists. To make sure we fund programs that gets parents the skills, information and support they need before," said Suzin Bartley, executive director of the fund. "We want to go up river before there is any abuse or neglect, making sure parents understand exactly what their kids are doing and that the community is there to help them during their times of stress and need."

Bartley was addressing a mostly barefoot audience in the City Council chambers. The 70 little pairs of shoes never made it from Boston because the person driving them had gotten into an accident. Attendees pulled off their shoes and placed them on the tables in the chambers as an impromptu replacement.

The Children's Trust Fund provides funding and programming to help families including the Healthy Families Program, which provides home visitors who help parents work through challenges and set the "foundation" for children.

That program helped 18-year-old Kaitlyn Gingras balance being "a good mother" and her own educational needs. The senior at Wahconah Regional High School credits the program for connecting her to many resources and information about best parenting practices as well as being able to focus on herself as both a parent and an individual.

"I am proud of my accomplishments of being a good mother and continuing with school," Gingras said, after recapping an array of things she learned from the home visits ranging from a child's development cycles to healthy activities.

"The key is collaboration, how we work together to end child abuse," Lance LaPoint, acting area director of the Department of Children and Families, said.

The collaboration isn't just between DCF, United Way and the Children's Trust Fund but also includes District Attorney David Capeless, who is in charge of prosecuting abuse cases, and Child Care of the Berkshires and Berkshire Children and Families, which provides programming for early education and parenting.

Capeless said beyond education, adults need to step up to intervene when they know of abuse cases and report them.

"Often we make a report because a child is able to tell us about something. But often a child doesn't have the ability to or are afraid," Capeless said.

Parents need to set a good example and report known cases of abuse, he said.

State Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, also joined the presentation and promised to continue supporting the organizations, which receive state funding. City Councilor Melissa Mazzeo read a proclamation from Mayor Daniel Bianchi declaring the April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the city.

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