GREEENFIELD — April is Child Abuse Awareness Month and the Children’s Advocacy Center had several events planned to raise awareness about child abuse to the area, but not any longer as it and its staff are practicing social distancing like many others.
Executive Director Irene Woods said the Children’s Advocacy Center at 56 Wisdom Way will still display pinwheels on its lawn throughout April so that people driving by will be reminded of all of the children the agency serves.
Woods said a limited crew is currently working out of the center, and she said a few people will still respond to emergencies, but everyone else is working from home.
“If a child needs to be interviewed, a case manager will be there and it will be videotaped, as always, and the rest of the team will watch from remote locations,” she said. “If we have a real emergency and feel the child isn’t safe returning home, we will involve the state Department of Children and Families and the child will be removed immediately.”
She said less immediate cases will be rescheduled to a later date, but partners like police and the district attorney are meeting with Children’s Advocacy Center staff regularly via phone conferencing.
“We’re also checking in with our families to make sure everyone is OK,” she said. “We’re providing information and support over the phone and asking them to call us if any problems arise.”
Woods said when staff do have to meet a child and his or her family at the center, everyone is assessed to ensure no one is sick.
Getting back to Child Abuse Awareness Month, Woods said that pinwheels were introduced in 2008 as the national symbol for child abuse prevention through Pinwheels for Prevention. She said research shows that people respond to pinwheels. She hopes people take a ride during April to see the pinwheels on Wisdom Way.
“By its very nature, the pinwheel connotes whimsy and childlike notions,” she said. “In essence, it has come to serve as the physical embodiment, or reminder, of the great childhoods we want for all children.
“We can’t hold some of the other events we had wanted to hold, but we can do this one thing to keep reminding people,” Woods continued. “It’s just a little something to get people through these trying times.”
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-0261, ext. 269 or afritz@recorder.com.