Purple is a colour you will see a lot of this month.
October is Child Abuse Prevention month and many will wear purple ribbons on their lapels or somewhere else on their shirts to spread awareness. Resource Worker with Highland Shores Children’s Aid Jennifer Bishop adds that they want everyone to wear purple on October 24th, take a picture of it and send it to them so they can post it on their website. “We like it when kids and people can look around the community and in different places and see all of the people that are supportive,” she explains.
The month is set-up by Children’s Aid Societies in Ontario together with the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies as a way to spread awareness about the role the community has in preventing child abuse and neglect.
Highland Shores works with 38,000 kids in the region. “We look into what kind of services and support the family may need,” Bishop explains about what they do when they get a call. She says protection-related services might be needed if its a case where the child isn’t safe. “Out of 38,000 children we support across the jurisdiction less than one-percent require out-of-home support,” she adds.
Usually, they reach out to the families to teach them different strategies or parenting techniques to make sure their kids are safe at home. “Some of the things that are happening iht kids is the lack of resources or the lack of knowledge on how to support their kids,” Bishop says. Often they connect families with community partners.