Victims remembered for Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month
The Brief
April is Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
Dallas CASA held an event on Friday, using clothes from four children whose cries went unheard to bring attention to the problem.
For more information about what you can do to help, visit dallascasa.org.
DALLAS - The men and women who fight to protect children and prevent child abuse are trying to bring attention to the problem for Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
What's new
The Dallas County Child Abuse Coalition is comprised of law enforcement officers, childcare workers, and advocates from Dallas CASA, also known as Court Appointed Special Advocates.
On Friday, they all gathered for a special event in honor of Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.
The overflowing crowd of men and women who work daily to save the most vulnerable from the horrors of child abuse held a moving moment of silence.
"Let's take a moment now to honor and remember each of these children whose lives were taken far too soon," said District Court Judge Hector Garza.
Four sets of clothing represented four children whose cries for help could not be heard last year.
What they're saying
Dallas CASA CEO Kathleen La Valle said changes in state legislation have made it more difficult to remove a child from the home to foster care.
"So when I think about what we're doing to protect children, I think about the policies and practices. You know, what do we have in place to really be a safety net for our children? And it raises concerns in my mind today because I feel like we have swung in a direction where we are not as child-protection-focused as we should be," she said.
What you can do
CASA advocates for every child in a foster home strictly through volunteers.
The Dallas chapter serves more children than any other CASA program across the nation.
If you'd like to help, visit dallascasa.org.
The organization is also asking people to take pictures of the blue lights of the Dallas skyline and use the hashtag #PreventChildAbuseDallas to acknowledge April as Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month.
The Source
FOX 4's Shaun Rabb attended the Dallas CASA event for Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month to gather information for this story.
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