Working Together to Promote Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention
Working Together to Promote Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention
MCCG, City and Community Come Together During April
MACON, GA (Friday, March 30, 2012) – With the national spotlight on child abuse in recent months, and coinciding with National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, the Crescent House, a service of The Children's Hospital at The Medical Center of Central Georgia, wants to continue discourse on the many aspects of this important issue. This is a time to recognize that we each can play a part in promoting the social and emotional well-being of children and families in the community.
In a proclamation on Monday at 10 a.m. in the Mayor's Conference Room at City Hall, Macon Mayor Robert Reichert will announce the city's commitment to ending the cycle of child abuse and neglect by working together with MCCG and other social service agencies to support the children and families of the community.
On Wednesday, beginning at 11:30 a.m. in the Trice Lobby at MCCG, a convocation will be held to renew the Bibb County Child Abuse Protocol, a commitment by the Crescent House, The Children's Hospital, MCCG, the Bibb County Board of Education, the Bibb County Department of Family and Children Services, the Bibb County District Attorney's Office, and other local law enforcement, public safety and health care organizations.
A special presentation about regional child sex trafficking by Senior Assistant District Attorney for the Houston County District Attorney's Office David Cooke is scheduled at 12 p.m. in the Trice Auditorium. Cooke leads the Child Support Enforcement Division at his office. He was also appointed to Gov. Nathan Deal's task force on prosecuting the commercial sexual exploitation of children and is a frequent lecturer on crimes against women and children. He's been featured multiple times on cable news television as an expert commentator.
The Crescent House is a children's advocacy center designed to meet the needs of children who have made allegations of being abused. The 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. The Crescent House is proud to staff the only forensic pediatrician in central and south Georgia, Dr. Yameika Head, who treats these children and works with the multidisciplinary team to ensure an accurate evaluation of the allegations.