April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, where our community works to make sure everyone has a role to play in preventing child abuse and neglect!
Last year, 555 children living in Tarrant County experienced child abuse and neglect, were removed from their homes, and placed in foster care. These children are at-risk of falling through the cracks of an overburdened foster care system. Child abuse is traumatic, and the best way to address child abuse is to prevent it form ever happening.
You can help prevent child abuse by raising awareness. On Friday, April 14, 2023, thousands of Texans will come together and wear blue – the official color of child abuse prevention, to show their support for ending child abuse. Wear blue on Go Blue Day – Friday, April 14th, 2023, to show your support for children who experience child abuse and neglect. Talk to your friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to do the same!
You can also show your support by visiting our pinwheel installation at Levitt Pavilion in Arlington. The installation will be available for viewing April 3-30th. Share your visit on social media!
Want to make a bigger difference in a child’s life? Become a CASA volunteer! CASA of Tarrant County recruits community members just like you to advocate for children in the foster care system. CASA volunteers or “CASAs” speak up for a child’s best interests. After receiving training on how to be a CASA advocate, CASAs are assigned to a child or sibling group of children in foster care. They then visit the children every month and talk to the child’s case workers, teachers, therapists, and caregivers. CASAs gather important information to help judges determine if the child can return home, be placed with relatives, or adopted, and they make sure children’s needs are met while they are in foster care.