ROCKINGHAM — A small garden of blue and purple pinwheels was planted Monday afternoon in front of the Speckled Paw at IncSpace in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The Richmond County Partnership for Children, which leases space in the building, had a few small helping hands with several kids — and a few adults — setting the pinwheels out for display.
The children included: 2-year-old Elias Myers, 10-year-old Payton Springs, 6-year-old Kaylen Springs and 8-year-old Hayle Hutton of Hamlet; and Jace and Sawn Everett, 5 and 3, respectively, of Rockingham.
The kids, parents and RCPC staff used chalk to draw messages and pictures on the sidewalk out front before going inside to color and for smoothies from the Speckled Paw.
Others who stopped by included: Dr. Wendy Jordan, director of Student Services for Richmond County Schools; Dobbins Heights Councilwoman Angeline David; and United Way of Richmond County Executive Director Michelle Parrish.
While blue is the traditional color for the event, most of those ones set in the ground were purple.
Part of that was due to a supply shortage, according to RCPC Executive Director Dr. Katrina Chance. However, she added that since purple is also used to designate domestic violence, it still works, adding that the purple represents the “healing of bruises.”
In addition to helping children develop academically, Chance said one of the Partnership’s goals is preventing — and making people aware of — adverse childhood experiences, which include abuse and neglect.
“It’s important for us to bring awareness to child abuse, as well as neglect,” Chance said, adding that statistics have increased since the pandemic.
WGHP reported in November 2021 that there was a higher number of cases in the Triad area, especially involving sexual abuse.
Nationwide, however, cases seemed to decrease, according to a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A graph included with the study shows that emergency room visits due to abuse and neglect dropped dramatically at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, and while cases have risen since then, they still remain slightly lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Child fatality rates also dropped in 2020 from the previous year, according to a report from the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In Richmond County, there were two individuals being held in the jail on child abuse charges: Joseph Carroll and Michelle Johnson.
The two are accused of physically and mentally abusing Johnson’s children, including her late son, whose death was allegedly attributed to the abuse. Both are charged with murder in his death.
Chance said that individuals don’t have to “know or see that there has been abuse,” just have a suspicion of abuse to file a report in good faith.
Social Services Director Robby Hall previously told the RO that there were more than 900 cases investigated by DSS in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.According to Hall, substance misuse and mental health issues are the primary characteristics involved in the majority of child welfare cases.
The RO does not yet have any local statistics for more recent years.
However, in May 2021, there were 71 children in foster care.
