Community Partners Host Sixth Annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium
Symposium Promoting End of Abuse and Neglect to Be Held April 11
Each April - in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month - Crescent House, Atrium Health Navicent encourages discussion of this important issue through an annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium.
The sixth annual Child Abuse Prevention Symposium, scheduled Wednesday, April 11 from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., will take place at The Medical Center, Navicent Health's Peyton Anderson Health Education Center, located at 877 Hemlock Street in Macon.
Topics at this year's symposium include Sex Trafficking: Signs, Symptoms and How We Can Help; Cyberbullying; and Trauma & the Forgotten Senses. Keynote speaker Felicia Johnson, author and behavioral health worker, will share her life story about surviving abuse and living with mental illness.
This event is open to the public. Law enforcement, social workers, medical professionals and educators are particularly encouraged to attend. Participants may register at www.navicenthealth.org ($30 registration fee, $15 for students with student ID).
In support of the fight to end abuse and neglect, a representative of Macon-Bibb County will present a proclamation at 8:45 a.m. declaring the consolidated government's commitment to support children and families by ending the cycle of abuse and neglect.
"April is a time to recognize that each member of the community has a role in promoting the social and emotional wellbeing of children and families. Ending the cycle of abuse and neglect is an effort that requires the vigilance of all members of our community. Crescent House and Atrium Health Navicent are pleased to partner with Macon-Bibb County, as well as the Board of Education, Division of Family and Children's Services, District Attorney's Office, local law enforcement and public safety agencies and healthcare organizations to address this issue," said Kemberlie Sanderson, Manager of Crescent House, Atrium Health Navicent.
Since beginning services in 1997, Crescent House, Atrium Health Navicent - a children's advocacy center designed to meet the needs of children who have made allegations of abuse - has cared for approximately 11,700 children. Crescent House is not a shelter but a facility supplied with state-of-the-art equipment that enables specially trained professionals to conduct effective, consistent, non-threatening interviews and examinations of children who have made these allegations. It is a "one-stop shop," utilizing a multidisciplinary team approach to the investigation, treatment and prevention of child abuse.
Exchange Club of Macon and Crescent House have partnered annually to sponsor the Child Abuse Prevention Symposium. This year marks the sixth year of this symposium and the partners are pleased to lead the community discussion and efforts to combat abuse and neglect.
About Atrium Health Navicent
Atrium Health Navicent was incorporated on November 17, 1994, as a nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose is to coordinate The Medical Center, Navicent Health and other affiliated entities in their mission of providing a comprehensive continuum of high quality, reasonably priced healthcare services to the region. Atrium Health Navicent has 970 beds for medical, surgical, rehabilitation and hospice purposes. The health system includes The Medical Center, Navicent Health, a nationally recognized tertiary teaching hospital; Atrium Health Navicent Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital, the region's only dedicated pediatric hospital; Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin and Medical Center of Peach County, Atrium Health Navicent, both rural hospitals; Rehabilitation Hospital, Atrium Health Navicent, the region's oldest and most experienced rehabilitation provider; Pine Pointe, Atrium Health Navicent, which provides palliative and hospice care in homes and in its facility; Carlyle Place, Atrium Health Navicent, the area's first continuing care retirement community; Navicent Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Atrium Health Navicent; as well as diagnostic and home care services. For more information, please visit www.navicenthealth.org.