FOR RELEASE: March 25, 2010

Contact: Katy Maloy

502-893-3900 ext 261

Agency Kicks Off Month-Long Campaign

to Expand Residents’ Role in Child Abuse Prevention
Child Abuse Prevention Month Efforts Include Tips, Classes, Community Rally
Mayor and First Lady Abramson to Sign Personal Pledge Cards

(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) Family & Children’s Place, the area’s leading child abuse prevention and
treatment agency, is launching a month-long “Building Brighter Futures Community Challenge”
campaign during April. Based on the premise that protecting children from abuse and neglect is
every adult’s responsibility, the campaign will urge every area resident to make a pledge to do at
least one thing during Child Abuse Prevention Month to stop the mistreatment of infants, youngsters
and teens in the community.

“We, as an agency, know how to prevent child abuse,” said Dan Fox, president of Family &
Children’s Place. “We, as a community, must learn the simple things each of us can do, and then
make a pledge to do them. The Building Brighter Futures campaign is a launching point for a new
era in community involvement to prevent child abuse in the Greater Louisville area. During April, we
will be offering residents daily tips, free sexual abuse prevention classes, online information and a
mid-month rally to encourage them to make and carry out their pledges to the children who are our
neighbors and, thus, our responsibility.”

One of the first things residents can do is learn the facts about abuse, Fox said, noting that it
happens to tiny infants, toddlers, youth and adolescents in every zip code, at every socioeconomic
level, from every faith and of every ethnic background in the community. Unexplained injuries are
not the only signs of abuse, he added, saying that behavior changes also often signal mistreatment.

In 2007, nearly 15,000 of the 88,292 reports of child abuse and neglect in Kentucky were confirmed
by authorities. And 30 of those children died. In Indiana, there were 24,808 confirmed cases of
abuse and neglect, and 36 deaths. A 2007 study by Prevent Child Abuse America estimated the
direct and indirect costs of child abuse at $103.8 billion a year.

“Beyond these monetary costs, the physical, psychological, behavioral and societal consequences of
child abuse can last lifetimes, if not generations,” Fox said.

Daily Tips:
Beginning April 1, Family & Children’s Place will be providing daily child abuse prevention
suggestions and tips for area residents. The tips will be available daily online at
www.familyandchildrensplace.org and www.facebook.com/familyandchildrensplace. Twitter users
can get daily tips and other information by following @IStopAbuseINKY.

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Family & Children’s Place ∙ 2303 River Road ∙ Louisville, KY 40206 ∙ 502-893-3900
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Making the Pledge:

Mayor Jerry Abramson and First Lady Madeline Abramson will kick off the Building Brighter Futures
Community Challenge by being the first to sign pledge cards at an April 1 event. Thereafter, the
agency encourages every other area resident to complete a card to show their commitment to
preventing child abuse. The cards will be available beginning April 1 at various locations throughout
Louisville, including:

• Family & Children’s Place, 2303 River Road and online at www.familyandchildrensplace.org
and www.facebook.com/familyandchildrensplace;
• WAVE-3 TV, 725 S. Floyd Street and online at www.wave3.com;
• Kentucky Youth Advocates, 11001 Bluegrass Parkway, Jeffersonville, KY and online at
www.kyyouth.org;
• Cox Radio, 612 S. Fourth Street, Suite 100 and online at www.lite1069.com
• Frazier International History Museum, 829 West Main Street; and
• Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, 710 West Main Street and online at
www.guthriemayes.com.

Free Sexual Abuse Prevention Training Classes:

Family & Children’s Place will host three free sessions of Darkness to Light training, a national
program designed to raise awareness of the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse by
educating adults about the steps they can take to prevent, recognize and react appropriately. These
programs are free, open to the community and will be held on:

• Monday, March 29, from 12:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. at the Stake Center of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1000 Hurstbourne Parkway
• Monday, April 5, from 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the Louisville Free Public Library Main Branch,
301 York Street
• Wednesday, April 7, from 8:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. at Family & Children’s Place, 2303 River
Road

Space is first-come, first-served, and limited to 30 participants per training session. For more
information and to reserve your space, please call Jaime Thompson at 584-8505, ext 218.

Community Rally:
On April 13, members of the community are invited to join child advocates and other residents at a
Building Brighter Futures Community Challenge rally hosted by Family & Children’s Place at Slugger
Field at 11 a.m.

“During the rally, we will highlight the accomplishments of some of those individuals who already
have made and carried out their child abuse prevention pledges, and we will encourage and provide
more information for those who have not yet done so,” Fox said.

Live, Online Discussion:

Family & Children’s Place will host a live, online Facebook discussion about recognizing, preventing
and reacting appropriately to child abuse and neglect. The discussion will take place at
www.facebook.com/familyandchildrensplace on Tuesday, April 13, from noon until 7 p.m. The
discussion will be staffed by counselors from Family & Children’s Place who will respond online in
real time to participants’ questions and comments. Counselors also will post resources and tips
during the live discussion, which will remain on the agency’s fan page indefinitely. Participants may
join at any time during the live discussion, or they may submit their questions and comments to the
discussion page in advance and review the responses at a later time.
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About Family & Children’s Place:

Family & Children’s Place (www.familyandchildrensplace.org) works with thousands of families and
children affected by violence, abuse and neglect in Jefferson County and 10 surrounding counties in
Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Services include:

• Child Advocacy Centers: The area’s only comprehensive, child-friendly, treatment and
evaluation centers for sexually-abused children.
• Children’s Program: The area’s only nationally accredited, state-licensed early childhood
education program for children who have been abused.
• Supervised Visitation: The area’s only such program for families separated due to abuse that
can accommodate both in-home visits and visits in a secure, neutral space.
• Counseling Services: A broad-based family counseling program with proven interventions that
serves child and adult victims of violence.
• HANDS: An in-home visitation program that helps prevent child abuse by teaching nurturing and
parenting skills for first-time parents.
• Family & School Services (FASS): Structured school-based services that bring children,
parents and school personnel together to help children struggling with attendance, performance
and behavior, often due to abuse or other family crises.
• Homeless Prevention and Travelers Aid Services: Emergency support and long term
assistance to help families at risk of homelessness achieve stable housing and self-sufficiency.

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