SAN ANTONIO – The designation of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month was marked by a kickoff ceremony in Brackenridge Park Thursday.
The San Antonio Police Department, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office and Valero Energy Foundation joined ChildSafe for the kickoff.
At the state level, Judge John Specia, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, was also on hand for the event.
“(Child Protective Services) handles part of it –- we do the investigations,” Specia said as he explained his agency’s role. “But this is a community problem.”
ChildSafe CEO Kim Abernethy echoed Specia’s views.
“We as a community must take ownership of this issue,” she said. “We have to break the cycle.”
ChildSafe is placing 20,000 cardboard kids around town this month to create awareness of the campaign by putting a face on child abuse and neglect.
Abernethy said they hope the public will take pictures with the cardboard kids and post them on social media.
This story was originally published on ksat.com. Watch the full story here. http://www.ksat.com/content/pns/ksat/news/2015/04/09/-cardboard-kids–kick-off-child-abuse-awareness-month.html