4955-22 Special Resolution April as Child Abuse Month

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BILL NO. 18-22 RESOLUTION NO. 4955-22 A SPECIAL RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, RECOGNIZING APRIL 2022 AS CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH WHEREAS, in Federal fiscal year 2020, 3.9 million reports nation-wide and an estimated 216,000 reports in Indiana were made to child protective services; and WHEREAS, child abuse and neglect are serious problems affecting every segment of our community, and finding solutions requires input and action from everyone; and WHEREAS, effective child abuse prevention activities succeed because of the partnerships created between child welfare professionals, education, health, community- and faith-based organizations, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and families; and WHEREAS, our children are our most valuable resources and will shape the future of the City of South Bend, St. Joseph County and the State of Indiana; and WHEREAS, the harms that stem from child abuse and neglect are one small portion of the harms that arise from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) which are childhood experiences that can have long-term impacts on physical, mental and behavioral health; and WHEREAS, approximately 66% of St. Joseph County adults have at least one Adverse Childhood Experience; and WHEREAS, the incidence and impact of ACES are mediated by Protective Factors, which come from the lived environment and safe, stable, nurturing relationship; and WHEREAS, strengthening protective factors to prevent child abuse and ACEs requires a focused community-wide effort to: strengthen economic supports to families, promote healthy social norms, ensure a strong start for children, teach social skills to children and parents, connect youth to caring adults and activities,.and intervene to lessen the immediate and long- term harms of ACEs; and WHEREAS, systems of ACE prevention require community-wide collaboration, the explicit recognition that ACEs are common, and their long-term impact is felt by entire communities, and the understanding that individual organizations will require governmental support in order to fully protect children from ACEs; and WHEREAS,reduction in child abuse is a direct result of improved parental skills— parents learn from in-home visiting programs how to manage their anger, how to discipline their children effectively and without violence, and how to ask for help and support when they need it; and WHEREAS,the Youth Service Bureau's Young Moms Self-Sufficiency Program is one such unique program serving the young, at-risk, low-income mothers of South Bend and St. Joseph County; and WHEREAS,a multitude of organizations with child advocacy programming admirably serve South Bend and St. Joseph County; and WHEREAS,the FSSA 211 system serves as a valuable resource for families and service providers within South Bend and St. Joseph County areas.