When the Kern County Network for Children (KCNC) annually holds its “Call to Action” conference, agencies, organizations, schools and families anxiously await the results of a year long report on the condition of children. The “2005 Call to Action” was held on April 20 at Bakersfield’s Holiday Inn Select, and there was mixed good news. Reported cases of child abuse in Kern County in 2003, the most recent measurable year, occurred at a rate of 80.6 per 1,000 children. That was a 5.4 percent decline from 2002, but was still higher than California’s rate of 51.7. More

More than one million children are abused each year in America and in 2002 there were 19,836 reports of suspected abuse in Kern County. Since 1983, April has been designated as Child Abuse Prevention Month across the United States. On April 15, the Kern County Network for Children (KCNC) hosted “Call to Action,” a forum dealing with child abuse and its prevention. The event held at Bakersfield’s Holiday Inn Select brought together those in the community who can help eliminate child abuse, including individuals, schools, businesses, hospitals, religious organizations and social service agencies. Approximately 300 individuals from 40 community agencies attended. More

Drivers of moving vans, furniture trailers and pick up trucks eyeing stacks of beds descended on the Kern County Network for Children’s (KCNC) parking lot on June 29. Resting against the fences were 100 king and queen size mattress and box springs waiting to be picked up by local agencies serving needy families. More