April is National Child Abuse Prevention month, as designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Children’s Bureau funds the National Child Abuse Prevention Month initiative each April with the Child Welfare Information Gateway. The purpose is to raise awareness of ways to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Swope Health will support the effort with a pinwheel display, surrounding the new heart installation at Swope Health Central this month. Swope Health patients and associates will create the pinwheels, which are the national symbol for prevention of child abuse and neglect.
When you visit Children’s Services at any Swope Health location, you can pick up a pinwheel kit to create your own contribution to the display.
The pinwheel represents hope that every child will be raised in a healthy, safe and nurturing environment.
The pinwheel also represents a call to action, encouraging people everywhere to recognize that children are our future and that we all have a role to play in keeping them safe. ALL children deserve great childhoods.
Swope Health supports developing the “protective factors” that increase the well-being of children and families and reduce the likelihood of maltreatment. According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, there are six protective factors:
- Nurturing and attachment
- Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development
- Parental resilience
- Social connections
- Concrete supports for parents
- Social and emotional competence of children
Identifying protective factors helps parents find resources, supports, or coping strategies that allow them to parent effectively—even under stress.
On Tuesday, April 26, watch for the pinwheel garden near the heart at Swope Health.
