Promoting child safety and well being and to prevent child maltreatment, abuse and neglect through educational services and programs to children, parents, community members and youth-serving professionals throughout Washtenaw County.

SEXUAL ABUSE:

Nobody likes to talk about it.  But the Penn State scandal has brought it into our living rooms via our televisions, and we are talking about it.  We thought it important to share some important information about the sexual abuse of children:

1.  90% of the time a child is abused by someone the family knows and trusts
2. There are more than 42 million adults in America who were sexually abused as children.
3.  The immediate impact is devastating and the long term impact costs the society more that $35 billion annually
4.  Child sexual abuse is linked to personal dysfunction, mental health issues, teen pregnancy, violent crime, substance abuse and sex trafficking among other things
5.  We must talk to our kids and community about prevention - we need to empower adults to recognize the signs of child abuse and react responsibly
6.  Continue the dialogue on prevention of child abuse and reduce the risks in homes and organizations by education, awareness, changing policies.

Luncheon Lecture Series for 2011-12

LOSSES IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN: How to Help

Children and adolescents face a myriad of losses every day, and they do grieve these losses. While adults hope to protect children and adolescents from these painful realities, or circumstances, children experiencing loss need authentic empathy, respect, and support from caring adults. By providing solid support and strong consistent care, adults can help children cope with loss.

With the Luncheon Lecture Series, we will examine how various significant losses impact children and how we can help them to cope and move on to become healthy adults.

To register for this series please click here for the brochure. For more information, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Marcia Dykstra, Program Director.

CyberSafety Program

Since 2006, we have been offering Internet Safety programming to area High and Middle School students and their parents, free of charge, thanks to a federal grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.  We were one of only 5 communities in the nation to receive this funding, which expired in June of 2011.  However, with funding, in part, from the James A. and Faith Knight Foundation, we will again be offering our program to interested schools throughout Washtenaw County.  To see the scope of services we offer, please click here for a copy of the CYBERSAFETY PROGRAM brochure.

For more information or to schedule the program for your school, youth group or parent group This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it