April is Child Abuse Prevention month and Healthy Kids, Lincoln County’s parenting and professional Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) Prevention Council, wants you to know we are here and you are part of the solution! Healthy Kids, along with the Maine Children’s Trust and 15 other CAN Prevention Councils throughout Maine agree: supportive communities and strong families prevent child abuse and neglect.  “Children are our greatest resource for the future of all our communities and every single community member can help make a difference,” says Healthy Kids’ new Executive Director, Charlene Corbett.

In 2021, the most current year for statistical information, it was reported by the Maine State Office of Child and Family Services that there were 88 substantiated cases of child abuse/neglect in Lincoln County. The largest number of children abused were under age 1. Neglect, emotional or psychological abuse, and caretaker’s drug use were the prominent risk factors in Lincoln County, with neglect the most common abuse type. “Parenting is a difficult job and all adults providing care for our kids need support,” Corbett says.

Everyone can participate. If you’re a parent or guardian, start by taking care of yourself! When the big and little problems of everyday life add up to the point that you’re feeling overwhelmed and out of control – take a time out! Reach out to a trusted friend or contact Healthy Kids for resources: www.healthykidsmaine.org or 207-563-1818. It’s okay to ask for help – everyone needs support at one time or another. Connecting with others for advice and support is a positive way to parent. You and your child(ren) have a right to be safe!

If you’re not a parent, you can help a friend, neighbor or relative. Being a parent isn’t easy. Offer a helping hand so the parent(s) can rest and have time for selfcare. Let them know you care and that help is available from a variety of sources and resources. It’s also important to educate yourself and others, so check out our resources! And of course, report suspected abuse and neglect. If you have a reason to believe a child has been or may be harmed, call the Office of Children and Family Services at 1-800-452-1999 or your local police department. You do not need to provide proof. If you’re a business owner or community member, you too can be part of the solution. Invest in kids! Encourage leaders in the community to be supportive of children and families. Ask employers to provide family-friendly work environments. Also, support prevention programs! Too often, intervention occurs only after abuse has been reported. Greater investments are needed in evidence-based/informed programs that have been proven to stop the abuse before it occurs. Help Healthy Kids offer these programs by making a donation to Healthy Kids, promoting our classes, events and programs on your social media

Finally, everyone needs to know what child abuse is. Physical and sexual abuse clearly constitute maltreatment, but so does neglect or the failure of parents or other caregivers to provide a child(ren) with needed food, clothing, and care. Children can also be emotionally abused when they are rejected, berated or continuously isolated. For more information, visit www.healthykidsmaine.org or www.mechildrenstrust.org.

Healthy Kids programs offer support through personalized meetings tailored to a parent’s and/or family’s situation, including classes, playgroups, concrete supports such as cribs or toys at Christmas, and workshops for professionals and high school kids in health classes. We promote community awareness opportunities and encourage community engagement in preventing child abuse and neglect.

Additionally, Healthy Kids emails bi-weekly parenting tips to over 700 families in Lincoln County and anyone can request being on the mailing list. Healthy Kids also provides free community dinner/game nights at schools and weekly live information/activities on Facebook. Two dinner/game night events for April will be hosted on Wednesday, April 12 at Edgecomb Eddy School and April 26 at Nobleboro Central School, both from 5 to 7 p.m. A Candlelight Vigil will be held at the Veteran’s Park in Newcastle at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 28 to bring the community together around child abuse and neglect prevention. We hope you’ll join us!

For more information on programs or to get some personalized parenting support, call Healthy Kids at 563-1818, visit our website www.healthykidsmaine.org or email hk@tidewater.net.