OPINION
April is a month of awareness and prevention of a serious and often quiet ill in society—child abuse.
The goal behind National Child Abuse Prevention Month is to decrease incidences of violence against and neglect of children as well as to highlight resources available for families affected by the issue.
In Denton County and Grayson County, there are volunteer opportunities to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate.
These volunteers work with children who end up in the child welfare system, helping be a voice for those kids in the court system.
Based on the statistics available at casadenton. org about 2025, 'hundreds of children entered the child welfare system due to abuse and/or neglect in Denton County, and CASA served 642 of them with a caring, trained advocate to speak to the court about their needs and best interests.'
There were 200 people who volunteered as CASA advocates in Denton County last year.
Grayson County offered training on trauma informed care on April 16 to help volunteers know how to 'meet the complex needs of children who have experienced adversity, early harm, toxic stress, and/or trauma,' according to casagrayson. networkforgood. com. Helping kids in trouble doesn't have to be so formal as volunteering for CASA. It can mean being on the lookout for children who are hungry, who have visible marks on their skin, who react in fear.
I agree with my husband when he says he cannot understand how anyone can harm children or animals. Both are innocent and deserve our protection.
We owe it to the children around us to be a source of safety and protection, not a source of damage and destruction.
Whether formally or informally, I challenge you to be an advocate for the children in our communities.
We must stand up for the voiceless at all times.
Abigail Bardwell is the Editor & Publisher of the Post-Signal, and she serves on both the North and East Texas Press Association and the Texas Press Association boards. She can be reached at [email protected].
