When it comes to child abuse, education and awareness matter to keep children in Butler County safe.

In a recent article about the blue pinwheels scattered across front yards in Butler County, Danielle Schmidt, the executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) of Butler County, spoke about the importance of widespread knowledge about available resources.

Awareness, she explained, is about more than just recognizing that child abuse happens. It’s also knowing the resources available to identify abuse and protect children in Butler County — or anywhere for that matter.

But for the sake of understanding just how prevalent child abuse is, the most recent Child Protective Services Report posted online for Pennsylvania included 73 fatalities and 115 near-fatalities.

That 2020 report shows there were 12.4 reports of child abuse per 1,000 children across the state, of which 1.7 cases were substantiated.

In Butler County, the 2020 Child Protective Services Report shows 253 total suspected reports, of which 54 were substantiated. This is the equivalent of 1.1 substantiated child abuse reports per 1,000 children.

Of these substantiated reports across the state, 31 percent were sexual abuse, 28 percent were physical abuse or bodily injury, 13.8 percent were reasonable likelihood of bodily injury, and 11.7 percent were serious physical neglect.

Lesser numbers of substantiated reports were for serious mental injury, sex trafficking and more.

It’s all very hard to hear. Innocent children hurt — and so often by the ones closest to them. The statewide report shows fathers, followed closely by mothers, as the most likely to abuse children.

So, at a glance, it’s easy to think: Why pinwheels?

The pinwheels, a toy meant to bring joy to children, can be used to start conversations. They represent the innocence of children.

These are difficult conversations, no doubt, but conversations that need to happen to help keep children safe.

Perhaps spotting a pinwheel, which is paired with a yard sign about child abuse, will direct someone to the available resources that exist to prevent and report child abuse.

“It's not necessarily about the different forms of abuse out there; it's more about providing support and awareness of (available) resources,” Schmidt said.

Among these resources is Help SToPP it, which is Butler County’s child abuse prevention initiative. The term stands for See, Talk, Prevent and Protect.

The proactive attempt to prevent child abuse is to not only be aware of the signs, but also to be aware of what to do when the signs are spotted. Additionally, the initiative asks people to step up and protect. This might be in a big way by becoming a foster parent or mentor, or it could be by simply reporting abuse when spotting it.

It really takes a community effort to prevent child abuse. It’s important that everyone do their part.

For more information, visit helpstoppit.com or call Butler County Human Services at 724-284-5114.

— TL