National Child Abuse Prevention Month

For most of us, there’s no place like home. But for the almost 1 million children in America who are victims of child abuse and neglect each year, home can be a scary place.

Unfortunately, it can be even scarier when children are removed from abusive homes, and these children are at increased risk for emotional trauma, future criminal activity, and recreating the cycle of abuse. Luckily, there are several organizations dedicated to serving these children and preventing abuse from occurring.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, so why not take a minute to find a way to get involved in your hometown?

One way to make a big difference is by supporting and volunteering with your local chapter of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) organization, enabling CASA volunteers to continue serving the nearly 1 million children who come through the U.S. court system each year due to abuse and neglect. After applying to volunteer with CASA and receiving special training, community volunteers are sworn in by their local court as official Special Advocates, and they work one-on-one with child victims of abuse and neglect to ensure that they receive needed services and are placed in safe, permanent homes as quickly as possible. Special Advocate volunteers are a powerful voice in court for these children, providing an extra set of eyes and ears for the court to understand and address each child’s needs and to keep them from falling through the cracks of the foster care system.

For these children, happy endings don’t have to be limited to Dorothy and her ruby red slippers.