Picente Announces Child Abuse Awareness Month 2015

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month in Oneida County.

County Executive Picente along with Oneida County Department of Social Services and community partners announced Child Abuse Awareness Month for the Month of April.

County Executive Picente said “We remain diligent all year long, but in April, we take the time to highlight the hotline number and the myriad of programs and events that take place continuously. Preventing child abuse is a community effort and the more people that remain diligent the more we can do to keep children safe.”

Oneida County received 4,170 calls to the Child Abuse Hotline last year. April is child abuse awareness month
nationally and in Oneida County. Oneida County is highlighting the Child Abuse Hotline. The hotline number is 1-800-342-3720.

Picente said “Our community partners such as the Thea Bowman House and the Neighborhood Center as well as our department of Social Services do an amazing job working to prevent child abuse here in Oneida County. I want to thank them for all the work they do and will continue to do in our society.”

Children from Thea Bowman and the Neighborhood Center planted pinwheels in front of the county office building as the pinwheel is the symbol of child abuse awareness, artwork by the children is displayed in both the county office building in Utica and the county office building in Rome.

In addition the Executive Directors from Neighborhood Center and Thea Bowman will be participated in the event as well as staff of the department of social services.