CLEARLAKE — The City Council read into record Thursday a proclamation designating April as “Child Abuse Prevention Month” in the city of Clearlake.
Gina Dickson, Latoya Fortino and Kristin Velez accepted the proclamation on behalf of the Lake County Children”s Council and the Lake County Cares for our Kids Coalition.
“I would like to thank the mayor, vice mayor and the council members for acknowledging that this is a community-wide topic and for understanding that building partnerships and a cohesive strategy to address these issues is required,” Dickson said.
“It really does take a village to raise a child and not only do we want to raise children to adulthood, we want to raise healthy, happy, well-rounded children who grow up to be fully-functioning members of society who are better-equipped to give the same love and support to the next generation of children. It really is a testament to the commitment that our community has to its most vulnerable members and to a future full of promise,” Dickson added.
The group of recipients brought with them a Children”s Memorial Flag. Dickson said the flag is meant to bring attention to child deaths in the United States. “As in past years, the flag will be flown at state capitols and other buildings across the country on the fourth Friday of the month, April 28,” she said.
According to Dickson, throughout the past few years, the fourth Friday of April has come to be known as Children”s Memorial Day.
“Agencies and organizations remember children lost to violence and promote actions aimed at stopping preventable deaths of children, whatever their causes,” she said. “These include protecting children from guns, strengthening child protection services, providing after school programs as safe havens for all children and funding drug treatment for addicted parents.”
The proclamation read into record reads as follows:
“WHEREAS, approximately three million children are reported abused and neglected in the United States each year; and
“WHEREAS, child abuse prevention is a community problem and finding solutions depends on the involvement of people throughout the community; and
“WHEREAS, effective child abuse prevention programs succeed because of partnerships created among social service agencies, schools, religious and civic organizations, law enforcement agencies and the business community; and
“WHEREAS, new local initiatives to prevent child abuse include: the Snuggle Nest project, Nurturing Parent Program, Differential Response, Infant Massage, Motherwise and the 4 P”s Project; and
“WHEREAS, all citizens should become more aware of the effects of child abuse and its prevention, and more supportive of parents raising their children in safe and nurturing environments.
“NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Clearlake does hereby proclaim April 2012, as ”Child Abuse Prevention Month” in Clearlake and calls upon its citizens, community agencies, religious organizations, medical facilities, and businesses to increase their participation in our efforts to prevent child abuse, thereby strengthening the community in which we live.”
