Child Abuse Awareness

Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month coming in April!

April is National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention month. This is a month set aside for us to raise community awareness of the devastating effects of child abuse and join forces to combat the problem and strive to build stronger, healthier communities and families. In Texas, more than 3 children die from abuse or neglect on average every week, 182 children are confirmed victims daily and more than 7 children are maltreated every hour (www.texprotects.org). These statistics tell us just how severe an epidemic we are facing. But the good news is, armed with knowledge, we can intervene and act to reduce those numbers and save lives.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Physical Abuse • The child has unexplained burns, bites, bruises, broken bones • The child may have fading bruises or marks noticeable after absence from school • The child seems frightened of parents and protests or cries when it is time to go home • The child shrinks back at the approach of adults • The parent offers conflicting, unconvincing, or no explanation for the child’s injury, or the explanation is not consistent with the injury

Emotional Abuse • The child has delayed physical or emotional development • The child may show extremes in behavior, such as overly compliant or demanding behavior, extreme passivity, or aggression • The parent overtly rejects the child • The parent constantly blames, belittles, or berates a child, is unconcerned about the child, and refuses to consider offers of help for the child’s problems

Neglect • The child may wear dirty clothing, shoes too small or large, clothing often in need of repair or inadequate for the weather • The child seems to be hungry; hoards, steals, begs for food or comes to school with little food • The child may appear depressed or to lack energy • The child may have dirty or decaying teeth, may demonstrate poor hygiene • The child frequently reports caring for other siblings, or states there’s no one at home to provide care • The parent seems apathetic, depressed, appears to be indifferent to the child • The parent abuses alcohol or drugs • The parent may deny the existence of a problem and blame the child, school, or others for problems at home

Sexual Abuse • The child has difficulty walking or sitting; may suddenly refuse to change for gym or other physical activities • The child may demonstrate unusual sexual knowledge or behavior • The child may report unusual nightmares or bedwetting • The parent may be secretive and isolated, jealous or controlling with family members • The parent acts unduly protective of the child or severely limits contact with others

Child Sex Trafficking • The child or youth possesses money, cell phone or other material items that cannot be explained • The child or youth reports participation in a sexual act in exchange for shelter, transportation, drugs, alcohol, money or other items of value • The child or youth is accompanied by an overly controlling “friend,” “partner,” or “boss” • The child or youth has signs of physical or sexual abuse; hesitant to explain tattoos or scars • The child or youth may have low self esteem, anxiety, guilt or shame, be hostile or uncooperative, and demonstrate suicidal thoughts or actions

HOW TO REPORT

Contact Texas Department of Family and Protective Services:

1-800-252-5400, 24/7 or make a report online at: www.txabusehotline.org

If there is an emergency and you believe a child's life is in danger, call 911.

If the situation requires immediate attention, you may request a welfare check from your local law enforcement office.

Wilson County Sheriff's Office: 830-393-2535

Floresville Police Department: 830-393-4055

Gather as much information as you safely can to make a report: names, addresses, phone numbers, descriptions, who lives in the home, where children attend school, where parents work. All of this information is very useful in identifying and locating the families. Provide as many details as you can regarding the incident(s), and circumstances surrounding the incident. Your identifying information as a reporter is confidential by state law.

GET HELP

Being a parent is hard. Keeping it together is hard. More so now in this trying time than ever before. But you're not alone. Please reach out. There are resources to help. There are hotlines available 24/7 with counselors to support you. There are family and friends on the other end of the line who are willing to listen who have been where you are or somewhere like it.

COVID-19 Mental Health Support Line

Call 1-833-986-1919 toll-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

National Parent Helpline

1-855-4-A-PARENT or 1-855-427-2736

Texas Council on Family Violence

1-800-799-7233

National Domestic Violence Hotline

1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233)

Help for Parents, Hope for Kids - Parenting Tips, Resources and Helplines

Texas Parent to Parent - Resource for Parents raising children with disabilities and chronic illnesses

TIPS FOR MAKING IT EASIER

If you need a break because you feel like you might break, take one. Walk away. Put the crying baby down in their crib and go into the next room. Leave older kids in another room where they are safe, go outside and let them scream. Take 5 minutes to breathe deeply. Lay flat on the ground and let all of your muscles relax. Walk around the house and notice 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Use prayer or meditation to calm and center yourself.

Relax the rules. This isn't a normal time. We can't expect our kids to be normal right now. We are under stress and so are they. Have peanut butter sandwiches for dinner and put everyone to bed early when you need an extra break. Make time to talk to people you care about who care about you and share what you're going through. This may be a lonely time for you, but you're not alone. Take it one day at a time, but keep remembering this too shall pass. This is a season of our lives and it too will change with time.

When your children are sleeping, make note of the things you love about them. Keep a list. Write down 3 things you love about them every day and 3 things you're grateful for in having this time with them, maybe just things you've noticed about them that you didn't have a chance to notice when life was so busy before. Reflect on those things when you're taking a break. They don't cease to be true because their behavior is difficult in this moment. The moment will pass. We just have to wait it out without reacting.

State Resources

Children at Risk

Children at Risk is a Texas-based research and advocacy organization that educates and provides services designed to help prevent human trafficking, economic disadvantage among children, and abuses against children. Services offered include:

The Center to End the Trafficking & Exploitation of Children (CETEC) providing policy recommendations and toolkits for local governments and law enforcement to help prevent human trafficking, as well as analysis and a map of suspected human trafficking businesses and their proximity to schools
Raising awareness about K-12 issues in specific schools across Texas

DFPS

The Texas Department of Family Services provides Texas school and family specific information including:

The Texas Abuse Hotline, 1-800-252-5400
Recognizing signs of abuse, definitions of abuse, and a Q&A about reporting abuse

OAG

The Texas Office of the Attorney General focuses primarily on support for children, victims of crime, and consumer protections, highlighting:

Programs and services available to victims of crime
An initiative underway to reduce human trafficking, providing facts about human trafficking globally and in Texas, as well as action steps for individuals to reduce human trafficking

TEA

The Texas Education Agency offers numerous resources pertinent to child safety, such as:

Training and awareness about child trafficking in Texas
Information about child abuse prevention and reporting
The Texas Team’s Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Toolkit, a toolkit created collaboratively with other Texas agencies

TxSSC

The Texas School Safety Center also offers several useful resources including:

A free course on Sexting and Bullying Prevention that raises awareness and offers actionable steps to prevent those activities
Videos and facts about dating violence aimed to help inform educators and families about risks involved

National Resources

Childhelp

Childhelp is an internationally renowned non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims and children at risk of child abuse and neglect. The organization offers resources for teachers including:

The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453
Readings to share with students
An evidence-based prevention curriculum, Speak Up Be Safe

Loveisrespect

Loveisrespect is a non-profit that originated from the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233) and now focuses on engaging, educating, and empowering young people to prevent and end abusive relationships. They provide:

Educator Toolkits tailored to middle schools and high schools
Information about consent and how to talk to young people about healthy relationships
Quizzes designed to help individuals identify safe and healthy relationships
Information about how to safely intervene for others in unsafe relationships

Break the Cycle

Break the Cycle is a national non-profit dedicated to ending relationship violence among young people. They provide numerous resources, including:

Technical assistance to support individuals and institutions such as schools and community organizations across the country to prevent dating abuse
Education on violence prevention and youth leadership
Information about addressing youth violence among members of faith communities and congregations

NDVH

The 24-hour National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), provides resources for individuals in unsafe domestic situations or others trying to help those in unsafe situations, such as:

Conflict resolution resources as well as information about state specific, LGBTQ+, and teen abuse issues for victims, survivors, or third parties.
Resources for individuals in the deaf community

Polaris Project

The Polaris Project is a non-profit focused on raising awareness, reporting, and providing resources for human trafficking including:

U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-888-373-7888
Guidance to help recognize human trafficking
Resources to help with responding to human trafficking incidents

NHTH

Concerns about human trafficking or coerced labor or sex work can be reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-888-3737-888.

Access Safety Planning Information about online safety, suspicious or controlling relationships, and tips for helping individuals in dangerous trafficking situations
All resources and information are available in English and Spanish

NCMEC

As a national and comprehensive reporting center, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children offers extensive information and resources pertaining to child exploitation, disaster preparation, and missing children such as:

Potential risk factors and prevention tips for disabled children who may be at increased risk of running or wandering away
Resources relating to online enticement of children, sex extortion, and how to remove sexually explicit content on many websites and applications such as Google or Facebook
Information about Amber Alerts and support for victims and families

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