Infographic: Preventing Costly Child Abuse

This is from the PEW Center on the States post (http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=85899375913)
Some of our nation’s costliest social problems—like child abuse and neglect—are rooted in early childhood. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to recognize the proven policies that help break the cycle of abuse and that promote the social and emotional well-being of children and families.

Voluntary home visiting matches parents with trained professionals to provide information and support during pregnancy and throughout their child’s early years—a critical developmental period. Increasingly, states are turning to evidence-based home visiting programs in an effort to prevent abuse and neglect.

Learn more about how home visiting gives families a solid foundation and helps states save money.

Healing Fields

Since the 1980s, millions of people across the country have participated in National Child Abuse Prevention Month activities including the Blue Ribbon Campaign by wearing and distributing blue ribbons, organizing community activities, and showing support for organizations, like the Center for Children and Families, Inc. (CCFI), that help keep kids safe and families together. 

CCFI Healing Field

This year, CCFI launched the first annual Healing Field campaign. Intended to sprout awareness, two Healing Fields are located in Norman, OKand both serve as a reminder that each of us can and does have a hand in protecting children throughout our communities. 

The larger Healing Field is located in the front of CCFI, at the corner of 12^th and Main Street, and consists of over 800 blue ribbon flags. Each flag represents100 Oklahoma victims of child abuse and neglect from 2011. The second Healing Field surrounds the fountain at Sooner Mall with planted pinwheels. Each pinwheel represents two Cleveland County victims of child abuse and neglect. Cleveland County’s number of victims of child abuse and neglect increased from 240 in 2010 to 293 in 2011.

Sooner Mall Healing Field

Last year 8,110 children were confirmed as being abused or neglected in Oklahoma and most of the children in Cleveland County in this situation would be referred to CCFI to find healing. It then becomes our job to try to mitigate the impact of this often unspeakable trauma and give those children the best possible shot at a happy and productive life. But we also work to stop the abuse before it happens, providing counseling and family support services through our programs and services.

Prevention begins with awareness.

Here are some ways you can help:

Donate Now
By making a donation to CCFI today, you’ll be investing in programs that are proven to stop the cycle of abuse and help provide support to children who have already become victims.

Virtual Blue Ribbon
A blue ribbon is the international symbol for Child Abuse Prevention. Show your support by sharing status updates posted on CCFI’s timeline on Facebook or changing your Profile Picture to a Blue Ribbon for the month of April. Go to www.facebook.com/ccfinorman to download.

Tweet about it
On Twitter? Follow @ccfinorman and retweet the messages we’ll be posting about National Child Abuse Prevention Month throughout April.

Host a Blue Ribbon Event
Organize your own event with a blue ribbon or healing field them during the month of April to benefit the Center for Children and Families, Inc. (CCFI), or attend one of our upcoming events.

Expand our Circle of Support
Share this page with family and friends via email, facebook, twitter, or any other social media site!

For more information about child abuse prevention visit: http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preventionmonth

Bottoms up.



CCFI Baby Pantry



Imagine everything it takes to be a parent.
Now imagine it without diapers.

Many families struggle to provide basic needs for their children. In fact, one in three mothers will struggle to provide clean, dry diapers for their babies. Contrary to popular belief, government programs do not assist with paper products, including diapers, and many daycare and child care agencies will only accept disposable diapers. With that said it becomes a difficult situation, and often times a choice, for parents struggling to make ends meet.

However, the Center for Children and Families, Inc.’s (CCFI) Baby Pantry assists parents in being able to meet these essential needs. One of our core organizational beliefs here at CCFI is that all parents need help and should never be ashamed to ask for advice, diapers or support. We see caregivers that seek help in raising their children every day at CCFI and know it is a sign of maturity and hope – never failure.
Anytime you can help lessen stress and assist families in being successful parents you are teaching them valuable skills.  Stressed parents do not always make positive decisions. By offering support and hope we are providing the opportunity for parents to have one less stressor in their lives.  Sometimes it helps just knowing that someone cares…and is there when you need them the most. Our Baby Pantry serves that role and is there for when parents need it the most.

At CCFI we’ve been fortunate to stock our Baby Pantry entirely on community donations and provided thousands of parents with nearly 40,000 diapers and hundreds of essential items (baby wipes, formula and cereal) in 2011. If we can provide support, encouragement and hope to families by allowing them to focus on the more important areas of parenting, like the relationship with their little ones, then it’s truly a benefit for the parent, child and the family as a whole, all of which transcends into a healthier community.

This April...

Promote Happier Childhoods

Across our neighborhoods, community and state we want to see love in place of the abuse that shatters the lives of more than 8,000 children in Oklahoma annually.

Abuse is an epidemic affecting our entire state — taking the lives of too many children — yet no one wants to talk about the topic of child abuse. Moreover many people are just not aware of child abuse, its signs or that they can and must speak up – because it may save a child’s life.

Starting today, we want to inspire you to begin conversations and attract attention to the cause and join CCFI in promoting happier childhoods across our community for National Child Abuse Prevention Month during Apri

Show your support. Help us prevent child abuse.

Host a diaper drive

Donate/collect diapers of all sizes for our Baby Pantry at CCFI. Help us keep little bottoms covered, clean and dry. Tell your friends, family, neighbors and coworkers to join you or do the same!

Go BLUE

Since 1989, thousands of people nationwide wear the blue ribbon to create awareness of the need to keep kids safe and families strong. Get all the information for blue ribbon and children abuse prevention awareness initiatives here.  

Join Us

Join us at the Capitol as we meet with legislators and showcase prevention efforts in our community. Please come by and visit our booth, we'd be glad to answer any questions or to have your help! For more information on Child Abuse Prevention Day at the Capitol click here.

Lend Your Voice

Get involved as an individual by:

Write your state or federal elected officials to advocate for greater healthy child development and child abuse prevention funding. After all, child development is a building block for community development and economic development, things we all believe in.

Get involved as a local organization by:

·         Joining Child Abuse Prevention Month activities in April.

·         Incorporating child abuse prevention into your work.

·         Discussing child abuse prevention at your conferences and meetings.

·         Contacting us to explore the possibilities.

Get involved as a company by:

·         Having change canisters, pinups, or electronic donation opportunities for customers.

·         Sponsoring awareness activities in the community.  

·         Printing messages on your bags or insert bill-stuffers to bring attention to this issue.

·         Inviting your employees to show their support by building a blue ribbon tree.

·         Creating a pinwheel garden on your company's premises in April to show your support during Child Abuse Prevention Month.

·         Contributing your company's professional expertise to help us advance this campaign and our organization's mission.

·         Donating or supporting the purchase of advertising space to help continue getting the word out.

If you have any questions or would like any more information about the content above, contact Stacy Hawthorne at shawthorne@ccfinorman.org or call 405-364-1420.

Katie Fitzgerald gets to see program's impact on families

 Article from the Norman Transcript- Although most don’t realize it at the time, some of the abused and neglected children who walk through the welcoming doors at Norman’s Center for Children and Families Inc. already have a connection with center director Katie Fitzgerald.

Katie at Hands & Hearts Luncheon

As a 7-year-old growing up in Michigan, Fitzgerald was molested at a girlfriend’s house by the friend’s father. She knew at the time that something was very wrong but didn’t know how to verbalize her feelings.

“I was crying and upset and my mom asked me all the right questions and I still couldn’t tell her,” Fitzgerald recalls. “Children can’t easily talk about what happens to them.”

Through play therapy, counseling and other services, the healing can begin. “I know that there’s a place for kids here. I didn’t have that,” says Fitzgerald, director for nearly 18 months.

She shared her story publicly at last year’s CCFI fundraising luncheon. Only through dialogue and education will we understand abuse and neglect can happen in all families. Later on, Fitzgerald and her friends discovered there were several victims. Even as close friends, they didn’t confide in each other.

“We just need to get more comfortable talking about it,” she said.

An Oklahoman for about six years, Fitzgerald came to the center, founded in 1969 as Juvenile Services Inc., after working at OU’s Women in Leadership program and for the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. In Michigan, she worked for the Kellogg Foundation and with the United Way. Much of her work focused on vulnerable youth and families.

“But everything I’ve ever done never felt complete until I came here. I can see kids and families here that we are having an impact on,” she said. “It’s an incredible opportunity for me.”

Emily and Pam Clinton, Katie.

She manages about 25 full and part-time employees and a $1.2 million budget. Funding comes from state agency contracts, individual and corporate donor partners and Norman’s United Way campaign.

Programs, besides healing child abuse and neglect, include support and education for parents, divorce visitation arbitration, parents assistance, teen parenting, neighborhood centers and an emergency diaper and formula closet. Last year, they handed out 32,000 diapers.

The Neighborhood Centers program cares for and provides safe, after school, evening and weekend activities for about 50 kids a day at Longfellow and Irving Middle Schools and Kennedy and Wilson elementaries. They’ll host an “I love my neighborhood” block party at Wilson from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday.

CCFI, along with Bethesda Alternative and Mary Abbott Children’s House, will mark April as child abuse prevention month with a variety of activities. Fitzgerald encourages people to attend the Children Front & Center Tours at the 7,500-square-foot center, located in the former Veterans Center complex on the Griffin Hospital campus, to see the mission in action. Tour dates and opportunities can be found here.

They’ll host legislators for a tour this week. Lawmakers will be making funding decisions that impact all who work with families and children. The numbers of investigated cases of abuse are down significantly but only due to a policy shift by the Department of Human Services.

Cleveland County claimed about 350 of the state’s 12,000 plus confirmed cases of abuse and neglect last year. A budget cutting proposal to close the health department’s office of child abuse prevention troubles Fitzgerald. In rough economic times, family stress tends to increase. Rural areas don’t always have safe places like CCFI, Bethesda or Abbott House.

“All around the state, these kids and their families need so much. We’re able to do what we can but further reducing these services right now is not the answer,” Fitzgerald said. “In most communities, there literally is nothing else for them.”

The Blue Ribbon

A Symbol of Awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month

During April you may see people wearing a looped blue ribbon or a blue ribbon pin in observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month, and you may wonder what the significance of the blue ribbon is. In fact, there is deep meaning behind what has become a nationally recognized symbol for child abuse prevention.

In the spring of 1989, a grandmother named Bonnie Finney took a stand against child abuse in Norfolk, Va. She tied a blue ribbon on the antenna of her minivan in remembrance of her late grandson and as a signal to her community that child abuse was a devastating social plague.

Her grandson, Michael Wayne "Bubba" Dickenson, and his siblings had lived in an at-risk, abusive home environment. Despite Finney's efforts to intervene on behalf of her grandchildren, the boyfriend of the children's mother murdered 3-year-old Bubba. His body was found, bound, beaten, and bruised, in a weighted toolbox at the bottom of a canal.

Finney said she was thinking about all the bruises she had seen on her grandchildren and decided to tie a blue ribbon on her van. She said she intended to never forget the battered, bruised bodies of her grandchildren and used the color blue as a reminder to fight for protection of children.

Finney's personal campaign to raise public awareness was joined by a Norfolk parent assistance program and a local radio station. Soon, stores, businesses, schools, churches, civic organizations, and social service agencies were participating in the campaign and thousands of blue ribbons were displayed in the name of child abuse prevention. The spirit of her blue ribbon grew and inspired a statewide community-based effort to prevent child abuse in every town, every community and every city and county.

Click here to see CCFI's Blue Ribbon for Kids Photo Album

Since then, Bonnie Finney's simple act of education and remembrance has inspired a nationwide movement and led states throughout the country to participate in the campaign by designating the month of April each year Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Promote healthy children and strong families in our community and wear a blue ribbon or build a blue ribbon tree in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month!

Make the ribbons count- trees must be registered and completed by April 5th and pictures of the trees will be displayed at the state capitol on April 12th during Child Abuse Prevention Day. Be sure you post your tree on the CCFI facebook page @ CCFInorman! Get started today at www.exchangeclubofnorman.org/.

Getting to the Bottom of it

Any parent will tell you it is a terrible inconvenience to run out to the drugstore late at night because you ran out of diapers. But this occasional inconvenience is nothing compared to the crisis unfolding across the nation for families who are unable to provide their children with an adequate supply of diapers.

The Facts

• Safety-net programs such as the SNAP (formerly food stamp program) and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) do not cover the cost of diapers. 

• An adequate supply of diapers can cost over $100 per month. 

• The vast majority of licensed day care centers do not accept cloth diapers, and require parents and caregivers to provide a steady supply of disposable diapers.

• Most people living in poverty do not have affordable access to washing facilities. Furthermore, most coin-operated laundromats do not allow customers to wash cloth diapers for health and sanitary reasons.

The Impacts

• In poor and low-income families, a baby can spend a day or longer in one diaper, leading to potential health and abuse risks.

• Low-income parents cannot take advantage of free or subsidized childcare if they cannot afford to leave disposable diapers at childcare centers. If parents cannot access daycare, then they are less able to attend work or school on a consistent basis. This in turn leads to increased economic instability and a continuation of the cycle of poverty.

• Without transportation, buying diapers at an inner city convenience store rather than a large retailer can double or triple the monthly cost for diapers. Many parents are already struggling to pay for rent and food and simply cannot afford the high cost of an adequate supply of diapers for their children.

Keeping Children Healthy, Helping Families Become Self Sufficient

Every baby deserves a clean diaper. Children left for extended periods of time in dirty diapers are at a higher risk for health problems including severe diaper rash, urinary tract infections, jaundice, and even staph infections.  Babies left in soiled diapers are more likely to cry from discomfort, which can increase caregiver stress and parental depression. In extreme cases, this type of stress on a family unit may lead to child neglect and abuse.

Lacking a steady access to diapers may also result in a family’s inability to participate in childcare programs, school, and even regular employment. We know that early childhood learning and development are critical to at-risk children.

The majority of early care and education programs, including free or subsidized programs like Early Head Start, require parents to provide disposable diapers prior to entering the program. If a caregiver is unable to meet this requirement, they may not be able to participate in regular employment or job training programs – essential factors in a family’s ability to be self sufficient.

A Very Special Place

More than 350 guests attended the annual Hands & Hearts Luncheon at the Embassy Suites this month. Personal stories of adversity, hope and giving back were shared by Executive Director Katie Fitzgerald and guest speaker Martha Buchanan. Here is the Hands & Hearts video of inspiring stories featuring former clients and staff:

Thank you to the guest speakers, video testimonials, table captains, luncheon sponsors and leadership donors for making this event a success. CCFI’s Caring Adult Network of financial donors increased with 65 new
donors supporting children and families in our community. Thank you for all your support!

After our annual Hands and Hearts fundraiser this year we received a lot of positive feedback but we believe that one of our guests and partners described the event best:

"As you may or may not know, Abbott House serves as the Child Abuse Response and Treatment (CART) team coordinator agency for Cleveland, Garvin, McClain and surrounding counties.  I mention this, because one of our partner agencies is the Center for Children and Families, Inc. (CCFI).  This past Wednesday, I had the extreme honor of attending their annual fundraiser, Hands and Hearts.  Wow. 

In just over an hour, I was filled with more pride in our community and hope for our future than I am able to put in words.  The program consisted of several personal stories from staff, volunteers, and individuals who have utilized the services that CCFI offers, each leaving the audience with encouragement and stories of overcoming obstacles."
-Mary Abbott Children's House (click here to read the rest)

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

What's ACEs? 
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being. The study is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente's Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego.

More than 17,000 Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) members undergoing a comprehensive physical examination chose to provide detailed information about their childhood experience of abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction. To date, more than 50 scientific articles have been published and more than100 conference and workshop presentations have been made.

The ACE Study findings suggest that certain experiences are major risk factors for the leading causes of illness and death as well as poor quality of life in the United States. Progress in preventing and recovering from the nation's worst health and social problems is likely to benefit from understanding that many of these problems arise as a consequence of adverse childhood experiences.
-Center for Disease Control


CCFI typically looks at ACEs and in a better way to explain our services we created an ACEs document that was within our Hands and Hearts publication.

For more information about Adverse Childhood Experiences visit http://www.acestudy.org/.

Take Action to Prevent Child Abuse

April is Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month but I wish we didn't have "awareness months." An "awareness month" suggests that an issue deserves our attention just one month per year. How sad, when most things that really matter to us get our "awareness" every day... our children, our spouses, our jobs, etc. "Awareness months" are also out of control. Consider National Clown College Month, National Wear Brown Shoes Month and don't forget about National Don't Eat Cheese After Noon Month. At the risk of offending aspiring, brown-shoe wearing, lactose intolerant clowns, I'd like to propose an alternative way.

Let's resolve to pick the issue(s) that matter to us and be both aware of that issue, and active on that issue throughout the year! I hope I can convince you to make one of your issues the prevention of child abuse and neglect.

You might be surprised to learn that Cleveland County ranks third among Oklahoma counties in the number of confirmed cases of abuse and neglect - a statistic that does not help us in our quest to be one of the "best places to live, work and raise a family." For the hundreds of children who are abused or neglected in our community each year, that ideal is far from their reality.

Without intensive therapeutic intervention, children who experience physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect are more likely to suffer from anxiety and mood disorders, behavioral health problems, and to repeat patterns of abuse and neglect when they become parents., Tragically, some children do not survive the abuse at all.

But preventing and treating abuse and neglect is not just the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do. Child abuse and neglect is a community issue - a public health issue. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente, in one of the largest studies of its kind, documented the relationship between abuse, neglect, and other traumas in childhood (e.g., domestic violence and substance abuse in the home, incarceration of a parent, etc.) and health conditions later in life, such as heart disease, lung and liver disease, cancer, obesity, alcoholism, and depression.

Abuse and neglect also impact a child's ability to learn. International business leaders like Warren Buffett and Oklahoma's George Kaiser are putting millions - if not billions - into efforts to ensure that babies and young children have healthy starts and nurturing environments. These and other business leaders are approaching this issue with the same passion and savvy that propelled them to economic success. They make decisions based on evidence and the return on investment. In this case, the evidence is clear that quality programs that support healthy learning and nurturing environments for vulnerable children produce real results. For every $1 invested in those programs, there is a $7 - $8 return. The paradigm has shifted. It is no longer just about helping those children; it is now also about doing what is in our own best interest.

Yet, the problem is growing and the leaders are too few and far between. The downturn in the economy has exacerbated problems for families and children. In 2009, Medicaid paid for 60% of all births in Oklahoma, 42% of all births were to single parents, and one out of every four children in Oklahoma were born into poverty. The State of Oklahoma's investments in early childhood, mental health services, domestic violence and abuse prevention are evaporating at the same time the problems are increasing. It is a perfect storm.

This is where YOU come in. Norman's children need you and they need you today! They need you to volunteer to mentor them, tutor them, and spend time with them. Norman's children need you to watch out for them, to speak to legislators and city leaders about them, and to invest your talents and resources in programs that serve them. There are many organizations in Norman committed to protecting and nurturing children. Now that you are aware, please take action not just this month but throughout the year.

For more information on how you can be involved in preventing child abuse and neglect, please contact the Center for Children and Families, Inc. www.ccfinorman.org or 405-364-1420.

 - Katie Fitzgerald

Katie Fitzgerald is the Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families, Inc.