The Tulare County
Child Abuse Prevention Council

Tulare County Child Abuse Prevention Council
Launches the 2011 Pin Pledge Campaign for Child Abuse Prevention Awareness

HISTORY OF THE BLUE RIBBON CAMPAIGN:

In April of 1989, Bonnie Finney, a Norfolk, Virginia grandmother, took a stand against child abuse. Earlier that year Bonnie’s grandson, three-year-old Michael, was murdered. Michael was found after a three-month search in a dismal swamp, wrapped in a sheet and stuffed into a tool box. Connie’s horror was compounded by the fact that Michael’s murderer was not a stranger, but his own mother, Bonnie’s daughter.

Bonnie’s outrage and grief turned to a personal commitment to stop child abuse. She tied a small blue ribbon to her car antenna as a signal to her community that no child should suffer as her grandson had. Soon friends and neighbors were asking what the blue ribbon meant. The spirit of her blue ribbon grew, and it inspired first a local, then a statewide, and now a national grassroots campaign to prevent child abuse and neglect in every home and in every community.

WHERE WE ARE TODAY:

• Every day in America 8,200 children are reported as abused, neglected, or abandoned.
• 500 children are placed in foster care.
• Everyday in America 5 children die from child abuse.
• One out of every 11 children in Tulare County is a reported victim of child abuse. On any given day in Tulare County there are approximately 1000 children in the juvenile court dependency system, all victims of abuse or neglect. Still there are countless other children in Tulare County suffering in silence, their abuse going unnoticed and unreported.

WHAT CAN YOU DO:

April is National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month (as well as Sexual Assault Awareness Month). The Tulare County Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC) is sponsoring the local Blue Ribbon Campaign.

CAPC represents numerous Tulare County agencies who provide services for children and families.

HERE’S HOW TO HELP:

1. Wear a blue ribbon throughout the month of April to draw attention to the tragedy of child abuse and neglect. Tell everyone you meet what the blue ribbon represents.
   Blue Ribbon pins are available by calling 735-0456.
2. Put the Hot-Line number in your cell phone
   (800) 331-1585.
   If you suspect that a child is being abused or neglected, report it.
   You may save a child’s life.
3. Contact your church/faith community and ask them to announce April Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month.
4. Tie a blue ribbon around the trees in your neighborhood, school, church, etc.

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