By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

RESERVE – St. John the Baptist Parish’s Health and Human Services Department hosted a free Child Abuse Training Seminar, “A Community Con-versation: Preventing Violence Against Children,” at Regala Park Gymnasium rcently in honor of Child Abuse Awareness Month.

During the month of April, communities and organizations strive to educate the public on the issue of child abuse and neglect, as well as strategies to prevent maltreatment. Parish President Natalie Robottom and other community figures were in attendance at the event, which was coordinated by Veronica Mollere and Elizabeth McDermott of the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children.  

The two advocates gave interesting and informative advice to those in attendance. Mollere and McDermott discussed the different types of abuse and the forms it may take. The pair also gave examples of how to identify a potential victim of abuse by behavior, how to deal with a child who repeatedly challenges authority and how to communicate with victims of abuse. The advocates also presented an enlightening analysis of the dynamics of a healthy relationship between a child and an adult. Mollere said the same traits would also apply to any type of relationship between two people.

“If we’re just addressing things from the reactive point of view, we’re not looking at the whole picture. Our department really focuses on education and prevention efforts to destigmatize child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault and start conversations in the community that hopefully encourage a community to organize around itself,” said Mollere, community educator.

“It’s part of our agency mission, to have a social change initiative. We believe that by educating the community that we can all move forward and meet the challenges of abuse. It’s our hope that communities can be safer places if violence is curtailed in the family,” said McDermott.

The advocates also explained what a mandated reporter is to the attendees of the seminar. A mandated reporter is a person required by law to report any instances of abuse he or she has observed. Mandated reporters are usually those who work closely with children, senior citizens or other vulnerable populations. McDermott and Mollere presented the audience with options for reporting their concerns should they suspect abuse in any child they know.

McDermott gave the seminar participants a few sobering statistics on the state of child abuse today — more than 38,000 cases of abuse and neglect were reported just last year. About half of those reports were investigated, and another 9,000 were shown to be confirmed cases. Forty-two children died of abuse or neglect last year.  

“There still is a stigma attached to abuse and acknowledging that there is abuse, which is why many times it shows up in adulthood. We are committed, through our Health and Human Services Department and the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children, to serving all of our residents,”  said Robottom.