Child Abuse Prevention

April is “All About Children” Month/abril es mes “Todo sobre los niños”

Help Stop Child Abuse

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Here are some important tips to consider: 1. Be a nurturing parent. Children need to know that they are special, loved and capable of following their dreams. 2. Help a friend, neighbor or relative. Being a parent isn’t easy. Offer a helping hand take care of the children, so the parent(s) can rest or spend time together. 3. Help yourself. When the big and little problems of your everyday life pile up to the point you feel overwhelmed and out of control – take time out. Don’t take it out on your kid. 4. If your baby cries… Learn what to do if your baby won’t stop crying. Never shake a baby – shaking a child may result in severe injury or death. 5. Get involved. Ask your community leaders, clergy, library and schools to develop services to meet the needs of healthy children and families. 6. Help to develop parenting resources at your local library. 7. Promote programs in school. Teaching children, parents and teachers prevention strategies can help to keep children safe. 8. Monitor your child’s TV and video viewing. Watching violent films and TV programs can harm young children. 9. Volunteer at a local child abuse prevention program. To volunteer call 1.800.CHILDREN. 10. Report suspected abuse or neglect. If you have reason to believe a child has been or may be harmed, call family services or the police department.

Conciencia de abuso infantil y prevención

Abril es el Mes de la Prevención del Abuso Infantil. Aquí hay algunos consejos importantes a considerar: 1. Ser un padre que nutre. Los niños necesitan saber que son especiales, amados y capaces de seguir sus sueños. 2. Ayuda a un amigo, vecino o pariente. Ser padre no es fácil. Ofrezca una mano amiga para cuidar a los niños, para que los padres puedan descansar o pasar tiempo juntos. 3. Ayúdate a ti mismo. Cuando los problemas grandes y pequeños de tu vida cotidiana se acumulen hasta el punto en que te sientas abrumado y fuera de control, tómate un descanso. No lo desquites con tu hijo. 4. Si su bebé llora ... Aprenda qué hacer si su bebé no para de llorar. Nunca sacuda a un bebé: sacudirlo puede provocar lesiones graves o la muerte. 5. Involúcrate. Pida a los líderes de su comunidad, al clero, a la biblioteca y a las escuelas que desarrollen servicios para satisfacer las necesidades de niños y familias sanos. 6. Ayuda a desarrollar recursos para padres en tu biblioteca local. 7. Promover programas en la escuela. Enseñar estrategias de prevención a niños, padres y maestros puede ayudar a mantener seguros a los niños. 8. Controle la televisión y la visualización de video de su hijo. Ver películas violentas y programas de televisión puede dañar a los niños pequeños. 9. Ser voluntario en un programa local de prevención de abuso infantil. Para ser voluntario, llame al 1.800.CHILDREN. 10. Reporte cualquier sospecha de abuso o negligencia. Si tiene motivos para creer que un niño ha sido o puede sufrir daños, llame a servicios para la familia o al departamento de policía.

Child Abuse In Texas

TX Must Make A Transformative Change In Child Protection And Foster Care

The Texas winter freeze and power outages are once-in-a-lifetime events that qualify as collective trauma for all of us. However, for Texans who were already in need or disproportionately affected by COVID-19, these events are compounding record-high levels of stress. This crisis reminds us there is a clear and urgent need to put children and their families first this legislative session. We need to ensure the immediate safety and protection of children who are survivors of child abuse and neglect. While events like the winter storm do not define families already under stressful circumstances, nor lead to child abuse, they do draw attention to the fact that thousands of children and families need our help and support more than ever. And we must work with the legislature on smart solutions to invest in upstream programs that prevent child abuse and neglect and mitigate the negative impact of events like these. We are encouraged to see Gov. Greg Abbott’s vow to bring the state of Texas into compliance with the longstanding lawsuit against the Texas Foster Care system, recognizing that it is fundamental to ensuring the immediate safety and protection of the nearly 50,000 children who are survivors of child abuse and neglect and come through the state’s foster care doors every year needing help and protection. However, we know the foster care system has caused trauma that is on par, if not more significant, than what initially launched them into foster care. The governor’s vow is a substantial promise and will require from our legislature this session an investment to the tune of $126 million — significant, yet worth every penny to protect the safety of our children. However, compliance with the lawsuit will not bring about transformational change. It is just the foundation and floor we must build upon. An investment of $126 million to address the many issues in the lawsuit will not erase the trauma children in the foster care system have suffered. It will not support and protect children and families from reaching critical tipping points caused by unaddressed trauma and stress. According to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, nearly 80 percent of child abuse in Texas is severe neglect often caused by a lack of basic supports or skills, unhealthy coping mechanisms, or underlying mental health challenges. Parents and caregivers can be equipped to combat all of those issues if provided access to needed support. Child Protective Services involvement on the back end of a crisis should not be our go-to solution. We must consider additional actions we can take to prevent such occurrences. The proven, most effective way to prevent abuse and neglect or crisis from tipping the scale for families is to invest in community networks and prevention programs that get to root causes. Transformative change requires that we stop expecting our child abuse pandemic to disappear with more investment in a CPS system. Combating child abuse in a transformative way requires us to invest in equitable access to what families need to provide nurturing, safe and stable homes. It means getting to what parents need so they can give their children what they need in return. And what parents need is access to health care, high-quality childcare and early learning environments so parents can work and provide support within their communities, and reduce economic barriers, particularly those with infants and toddlers. The legislature has life and death decisions to make and a difficult job, no doubt. We need legislators to invest financially to comply with the lawsuit. And if we want to prevent more children from entering foster care, we need to be investing more than 5% on prevention efforts in a $2 billion child protective services agency. That is not transformative change. The solution to child abuse is not funding a CPS system; it’s funding what parents and families need and what they need now. We must treat it with urgency because many families are struggling and are on the brink of a crisis at any given moment — that taxpayers will likely pay for. There should not be an either-or when it comes to protecting our state’s most vulnerable. Lawmakers need to look at the data in front of them, listen to what their constituents need, and learn from what has not historically worked when it comes to combating child abuse. Sophie Phillips is chief executive of TexProtects. She wrote this column first for The Dallas Morning News.

Special

Cinco de Mayo Parade Scheduled May 1, 2021

by AMARIS MARTINEZ-GARCIA LATINO LUBBOCK MAGAZINE

Los Hermanos Familia’s (LHF) event committees announced they are planning to hold most of their inperson events in 2021, as COVID-19 vaccination efforts ramp up and cases decline on the South Plains. “Our events are designed to encourage community and family engagement and to further increase cultural awareness, city-wide,” said Christy Martinez-Garcia, LHF President. She said they will be holding the annual Cinco de Mayo parade and are encouraging the public to join them in celebrating and realizing a little normalcy. “We want all the pageantry that we’ve had in the past, with the precautions of COVID-19,” she said. She said that last year they chose to cancel event after event to follow COVID-19 protocol and protect the public and their participants, and volunteers. She said that they are asking participants to wear masks and social distance and take personal responsibility to follow the recommended CDC guidelines to assure their safety. This year Metro by T-Mobile will be the 2021 premiere sponsor and will offer lots of giveaways to spectators. In addition, Latino Lubbock Magazine and the Ted Liggett Law Firm are also sponsoring. Lubbock will hold its official Cinco de Mayo parade again down historic Broadway. Although area Cinco de Mayo events in Lubbock include a combination of vibrant concerts balanced with many school and community groups’ observances that showcase Mexican culture through education, and recognition events she said this year might be lower key. “We believe that with the committed efforts of many trying to reduce cases and the fact that we’re holding an outdoor event, circumstances are better.” The theme for the 9th Annual Cinco de Mayo will be, “Flores y Colores” all participants are urged to be a part of this year's parade and celebrate their contributions to the history of the area. More so, Los Hermanos Familia is urging families who lost a loved-one to COVID-19 to decorate their car in honor of their lives. “It will be a memorial on wheels to remind the public of the impact COVID-19 had on our community, but also to memorialize them,” she said adding that between she and her husband they lost six family members. Los Hermanos Familia will be offering a limited number of free masks to parade participants, and will have a sanitizer station set up, and will lengthen the parade line-up to allow for more social distancing. Cinco de Mayo is still a date of great importance for the Mexican and Chicano communities. The date often confused as Mexican Independence Day, is a historical day that celebrates a victory of a major battle when Mexico conquered French forces in Puebla, Mexico, in 1862. Applications for parade entries and floats, can be found online at www.loshermanosfamilia.org/cinco-de-mayo-parade. Be a participant, or a spectator on Saturday, May 1, 2021. Set up time is as early as 8:30 a.m., and will commence at 10 a.m. For additional information call (806)792-1212.

LHF Events Scheduled

Los Hermanos Familia announces inperson events in 2021. The Inaugural Charity Golf Tournament will be held May 7, 2021. The 12th Annual "Vamos a Pescar, Let's Go Fishing" Event will be held Saturday, August 7, 2021. The 6th Annual Veteran's Parade will be held on Saturday, November 6, 2021. Online registration and applications for these events can be found online at www.loshermanosfamilia.org. LHF urges the public to join these events, as well as encourages to wear masks, physical distance and practice healthy handwashing if attending. For additional information call (806)7921212.

SPONSORED BY:

To Participate, Register at www.loshermanosfamilia.org For more information call (806)792-1212