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.

HOMETOWN HERO

We are proud of our Hometown Hero, Deb Hardcastle, Safe Sleep Coordinator!  Deb was selected by the Michigan Public Health Week Partnership of Michigan Department of Community Health to receive a 2012 Hometown Hero award.  This Award recognizes individuals and organizations across the state working tiressly to maintain and improve the health of their local communities.  Michigan will celebrate Public Health Week on April 23-27, 2012.  The Hometown Hero award is a major part of this week and Deb will be honored in Lansing on April 25th.

Since 2008, Deb Hardcastle has served as the volunteer coordinator the the "Sleep Safe for Infants" Program with the Washtenaw Area Council for Children. As a former neonatal intensive care unit nurse, and a mother of four, the Sleep Safe for Infants program has proven to be a perfect fit as it allowed her to reengage with her passion for teaching newborn care.  In her role with the Washtenaw Area Council for Children, Deb also volunteers her time with Safe Kids Huron Valley. Deb has provided countless hours of her expertise in training other safety advocates how to provide the appropriate safe sleep message.  Please join us in thanking Deb for her tireless support on behalf of keeping our littlest citizens safe.  She is truly our Hero! 

Become a STEWARD of CHILDREN

Child Sexual Abuse. Nobody likes to talk about it. But the Penn State scandal has brought it into our living rooms via our televisions, other news media has highlighted local cases, and we are talking about it. What often doesn't get talked about is how to prevent it. We are offering you an opportunity to do something about that, by becoming a Steward of Children.

We are offering Stewards of Children trainings to anyone interested in the welfare of our community's children. With these trainings, you will learn how you can prevent, recognize and react to signs of child sexual abuse. The Stewards of children training is a key component of changing and improving people's attitudes and behaviors about what it means to keep children safe. And will go a long way in helping WACC in our prevention of child sexual abuse in Washtenaw. For more information and to sign up for an upcoming training, please contact  Eileen Pritzker the Council office or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

We would like 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.

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 .

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