'Call to Action' focuses on child abuse

kcncabuse042: 'Call to Action' focuses on child abuseMore 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.

“We felt a need to present this event because of the reported cases of child abuse,” said Debra Burris-Garofalo, KCNC special projects facilitator. “We are trying to make an impact. The various activities that all of these agencies promote can make a difference in child abuse prevention. We also needed to let each other know that while there has been much done we can still do better.”

An important element of the news conference was the release of KCNC’s sixth annual “Report Card 2004 ” highlighting demographic information from the 2000 census as well as statistics regarding the well being of children in Kern County communities. As he released the information, KCNC Director Steve Sanders made reference to several important elements of which each person in the room should be aware.

“The report card talks about a study done by the California Department of Social Services that demonstrates multiple factors impact abuse,” Sanders said in referring to one section of the report card. “This study looked at women who had been removed from their families because of abuse and found that these women are more likely than the general population to be unmarried, living in poverty, unemployed, in poor physical and mental health and often lacked basic needs such as food.”

Inside the Holiday Inn Select, community agencies set up informational booths to show activities that could help prevent child abuse and to answer questions from those attending. Rob Rephan is an educational specialist with the Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault. Among the many things he does, Rephan prepares educational reference cards distributed to schools and other youth organizations designed to make teens think about the consequences and avoid sexual encounters. They are business card sized, can easily fit in wallets and pocketbooks, include informational and sexual abuse hotline numbers and are targeted to high school students.

“I just finished a card called ‘How Can Men Stop Rape,’” Rephan said. “While most of the other information was designed for girls to protect them against rape, there needed to be a card to make the guys more aware of their role in preventing rape.”

During the formal news conference presentation, “Dream Builders,” sponsored by Aera Energy and the Jim Burke Ford Education Foundation, gave a demonstration of what they do when they travel to school sites to help build student esteem.

Another session dealt with how to succeed despite current budget shortfalls.

“Ten years ago, KCNC was started in a tough budget time just like this one,” said Jayme Stuart, KCNC child and family services facilitator. “Yet, through collaboration we have made an impact. That is the point we made to other agencies. We all have to learn to do more without any more money by working better together.”

“Call to Action 2004” Participating Agencies

Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault
American Lung Association
Aspira Foster & Family Services
B-Glad
Bakersfield College
Bakersfield Police Department - Crime Prevention Unit
Boy’s and Girl’s Club
CASA of Kern County
Catholic Healthcare West
Clinica Sierra Vista - Inhalant Abuse
Community Connection for Child Care
Darlyn’s Darlings
Family Resources Centers — Southeast, Ridgecrest, East Kern Goodwill Industries
H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection
Housing Authority of the County of Kern
Independent Living Center
Junior Achievement
Kern County Child Care Council
Kern County Department of Child Support
Kern County Department of Human Services
Kern County Network for Children
Kern County Probation Department
Kern County Youth Mariachi
Kern County Superintendent of Schools - Special Education
Kern Bridges Youth Homes, Inc.
Kern Child Abuse Prevention Council - Haven Counseling
Kern County Department of Public Health
Kern County Mental Health System of Care
Kern Regional Center
Kern River Valley Collaborative
Koinonia Foster Homes, Inc.
National Health Services, Inc.
Owens Valley Career Development Center
Police Activities League
Planned Parenthood
Stockdale Learning Center, C.H.A.D.D. and Learning Disabilities Association
University of California Cooperative Extension
Youth Connection


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