ROCKINGHAM — Pinwheels were planted in front of IncSpace — the building the houses the Richmond County Partnership for Children — on Monday, just days ahead of an event in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The Partnership is teaming up with the Richmond County Department of Social Services on Wednesday, April 10 for a walk from the Human Services Complex, down E. Washington Street to Harrington Square. The event starts at 4 p.m.
“This is another great opportunity to demonstrate how Richmond County takes adverse childhood experiences… child abuse, and childhood trauma seriously,” Katrina Chance, executive director of the Partnership, said in an email to the Richmond County Board of Commissioners.
During last year’s program, Chance said that pinwheels have been the symbol of child maltreatment since 2008 and “the bright future of all children and our belief that we all have a stake in nurturing positive childhoods.”
Click here to read about the 2023 pinwheel march.
In 2022, the local DSS office investigated 550 of 798 reports of child abuse and neglect, according to Social Services Director Robby Hall.
The county has also seen an increase in foster children needing homes. The main reasons children are put into foster care, Hall previously told the RO, include domestic violence, physical or sexual abuse and drug use by parents.
Prior to the pandemic, the number of children in DSS custody averaged around 30 at any given time, according to Hall. By 2021, that number had jumped to more than 70, with more than 100 in 2022 and 2023.
Last week, Gov. Roy Cooper signed a proclamation recognizing April 6-12 as Week of the Young Child.
April is also Autism Awareness Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. New Horizons will be hosting a march for the latter in downtown Rockingham starting at noon April 17 at Harrington Square.
(Disclosure: IncSpace also houses the Richmond Observer.)
