Lucas County Children Services (LCCS) will mark Child Abuse Prevention Month with its annual Child Memorial April 30 at 11:30 a.m.

The solemn ceremony will begin at Government Center, and participants will march to the LCCS offices for the raising of the child memorial flag.

This year’s ceremony will remember Julian Wielinski, age 2 months, who died in May 2009 after being thrown against an entertainment center by his father, and 2-year-old Isaiah Robinson, who died in December 2009 after allegedly being suffocated by his mother.

“These are two very tragic losses,” says Dean Sparks, LCCS executive director. “The deaths of these children are being felt by brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, even great-grandparents. My heart goes out to the affected families.”

The Web site www.childhelp.org reports that in 2007, almost five children died every day as a result of child abuse. More than three-quarters of them were under the age of 4. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children & Families estimated that in 2007, 794,000 children were victims of maltreatment. In Lucas County, in 2009:

• LCCS received 4,362 referrals for suspected child abuse involving 6,280 children.

• 1,335 children were confirmed victims of abuse.

• The largest percentage of referrals (44 percent) related to allegations of physical abuse, followed by neglect (43 percent), sexual abuse (10 percent) and emotional abuse (two percent).

• Forty-five percent of alleged child victims were 5 years old or younger. Pre-teens (6 to 12 years old) accounted for 34 percent of child victims, while teens accounted for the remaining 19 percent of victims (one percent unknown).

• Girls are slightly more likely (51 percent) than boys to be victims of abuse or neglect.

“Choose Your Partner Carefully”
In 2010, LCCS is raising awareness of the risk that young, single parents create when they ask their boyfriend or girlfriend to care for their child.

One third of all child abuse deaths in Lucas County between 2001 and 2008 were at the hands of mother’s boyfriend. The “Choose Your Partner Carefully: Your Child’s Life Depends On It” campaign is designed to raise awareness of the risks that having an unrelated partner care for your child creates.

“More than likely, that person is not accustomed to caring for a young child. He or she may have a romantic interest in the child’s parent, but is not invested in the child, and might act inappropriately if something goes wrong,”
Sparks said.

The “campaign includes television, print and billboard ads, as well as postcards and magnets to serve as reminders to young parents. Lamar Advertising and Mercy Children’s Hospital are supporting the campaign with donated billboards and printing, respectively. More information is available at www.lucaskids.net.

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