RALEIGH, N.C. — April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time when organizations and advocates come together to raise awareness about services available to help children and families thrive.

What You Need To Know

  • April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and pinwheels are often planted outside to raise awareness

  • According to Positive Childhood Alliance North Carolina, 75% of child welfare cases in the U.S. are for neglect and not abuse

  • PCANC also says over $4,000 is spent every minute in N.C. on the downstream consequences of child abuse and neglect

  • On Tuesday, April 2, there will be a pinwheel planting in Raleigh at the North Carolina State Farmer’s Market

This April, you might see pinwheels planted outside as part of Child Abuse Prevention Month campaigns across the Tar Heel state.

“Pinwheels are a symbol of a happy, healthy childhoods. And so we plant pinwheel gardens all across North Carolina to raise awareness and start those conversations,” Sharon Hirsch, the president and CEO of Positive Childhood Alliance North Carolina (PCANC), said.

“When we first began our work, we were really focusing on raising awareness about what child abuse is. Today, our work is really focused on what we need to do to support families, to keep children safe and thriving from the start,” Hirsch said. “We're working very hard to make sure children and families never have to experience involvement with our child welfare system.”

Hirsch says not many people may realize that 75% of child welfare cases in the U.S. are for neglect, not abuse.

“Folks tend to think about sexual abuse and physical abuse. Actually, the largest group of cases in child welfare is actually for child neglect. And child neglect is often, conflated and confused with poverty,” Hirsch said.

She believes that statistic would drop if families knew about things that create positive childhood experiences.

“Enjoying school, having one good friend, one caring teacher. And the science is really clear now that those positive experiences not only build children's brains, they can buffer the impact of adverse childhood experiences,” Hirsch said. “Knowledge of parenting and child development, making sure that families have strong social connections, parental resilience and concrete economic supports for families are all the kinds of things that we know that if we can have those things in place when families need it, children will thrive.”

So while it’s a month long campaign, Hirsch and other advocates work year round to educate people and make sure everyone has access to resources that can have a lifelong impact.

“Parenting is really hard, and we all need help every once in a while, and being able to access that help when you need it is really critical to assuring that families can can be successful,” Hirsch said.

Hirsch says over $4,000 is spent every minute in North Carolina on the downstream consequences of child abuse and neglect. That money, which is spent on anything from health care costs to the criminal justice system, could be spent elsewhere.

There are some statewide initiatives planned in the coming weeks for Child Abuse Prevention Month. On Tuesday, April 2, there will be a pinwheel planting in Raleigh at the North Carolina State Farmer’s Market at 11:30 a.m. Then on Friday, April 5, you’re encouraged to wear blue, which is the color associated with Child Abuse Prevention Month.