Childhelp®’s Post

Transcript

It is 3/12. The summer months can be especially hard for kids experiencing trauma at home. Being out of school means they are not in front of mandatory reporters like teachers, and it could cause cases of child abuse to go underreported. There are services to get victims that help that they need. The nonprofit Child Help offers trauma therapy, and it is free. Joining us now is Megan Train, the director of communications with Child Help. Megan, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for having me. Let's talk about the summer time. The kids aren't around those mandatory reporters. So what does that look like? So at Child Health, we do see a decrease in child abuse reporting. And that just like you said, because mandatory reporters, teachers, school psychologists, they aren't seeing seeing that to report. And kids can be at home longer, longer periods of times with their potential abuser. They have, they're isolated from their support systems. A lot of times school might be the only place they get fed. And so it can be, it can be a sad time for a lot of kids. What kind of resources? Because child help offer, especially during the summer, we have a helpline and that Child Abuse National Helpline 1800 for a child and that is for resources, for information, for referrals. So if a child and it's 24/7 staffed by professional counselors and you can call, text or chat. Yeah. And this is the time where maybe families are gathering together. You might be a child might have access then or someone to have this access to a child. Abuse them or to maybe see something and alert authorities to something. So tell me about some of the signs that we should be looking for. So there's a wide spectrum of signs. But you know, in infants, that might be if there's a baby that's not crawling yet and has a lot of bruises or injuries that don't make sense. Or if their clothes or their own kempt or their clothes are too small or not fitting with the weather, you know, very like long sleeves and 115�� heat would be or hoarding food. So those might be signs that something else is going on that you could ask some questions within your family at that point. Or sometimes kids might become very withdrawn or their acts scared of adults or their caregiver too is another sign. And so it can be a long summer. It's still about a month and a half before the kids get back into school. What does Child Help want us to know as far as what we can do to help those kids be safe out there? Try to be aware, you know, if you're in a community member or if you're a teacher, like check in on those kids that you might, you know, you get a feeling in your gut like I don't know if everything is OK there. Also educate kids on social media safety, Internet safety and let them know safe places they can go. We've got 1800 for a child like I previously mentioned that they can call anytime, text chat. Also the libraries are a safe space. Tell the kids like fire stations, police stations, places in the community. Maybe there's like a special shop. Are trusted shop owner that you know, like they could go there for help should something happen. So if a child happens to be watching and wants to be in a safe place, they can request that visit to the library. Spend more time in the library where they are have access to other adults who could help them in that situation. Wow, it must be a tough stretch of summer time to get the kids back into the classes where you know they're being watched by people who are looking out for their best interest. Hopefully yes. And we do see when school does start we see an uptick of about 20%. And calls of reporting child abuse cases. So then it's like sad, but it's also like, OK, good. The teachers, school staff are looking out and doing what they can do now. Why did you want to get involved in this kind of work? I'm a mom and I love kids. And, you know, like, I don't want to say children are future. Yeah, but they are. They are. That's true. But yeah, I just love kids. And I think they're just so vulnerable. And just try to keep our vulnerable population safe. Let them have their childhood and let it be a happy and safe place where they can play and grow and nurture and become beautiful citizens of our society. So thank you for the work that you're doing. Thank you for the resources. That you offer over there child help and I think the library knowing that that library is just an accessible resource to anyone to walk in the door and get some, you know, good resources and contacts to resources is important information. Thank you for telling us that If you or someone you know is struggling or simply need a safe space to talk, there is help out there. The child abuse hotline right here in Arizona is 1-888-767-2445. You can also call this number to report. Suspected child abuse, neglect or exploitation. We have also added more information and resources on our website. So click the scene on TV tab on azfamily.com or download our free news app. Thank you Megan for.