They got close.
Dozens of people tried to stretch their hands all away around the Knox County Courthouse Thursday afternoon, as a sign they want to see child abuse ended, but they didn’t quite make it.
The message from the annual Hands Around the Courthouse, though, did get all the way around.
“The Illinois Child Abuse Hotline has received over 174,000 calls so far this year,” said Erin Olson, Knox County Health Department, and member of the local Blue Ribbon Task Force on child abuse. “20,643 kids were indicated by (the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services) so far this year. As of March 31, there are 189 kids in foster care placements in Knox, Warren, and Henderson Counties.”
And, Olson says, 121 kids were referred to the local Child Advocacy Center in the last fiscal year alone.
Officials say child abuse can happen for any of a number of reasons, drug or alcohol abuse by relatives, for instance.
An official with Lincoln Prairie Behavioral Health Center in Springfield says you would be surprised, and not in a good way, at the number of people who’ve been victims of abuse and neglect come through that agency’s doors.
For the second year in a row, Jill McClintock spoke at the Galesburg event.
“In 2023, we served 2,323 patients, and approximately 75 percent of them had experienced abuse and neglect. That’s 1,742 children and adolescents,” said McClintock. “Keep in mind, it takes an average of three years for a child to tell someone they have been abused.”
McClintock says she doesn’t want to even think about how many people wait even longer than that, or who never tell their story.
So, she says, the best thing people can do is always be available to keep their ears open to listening, and reporting abuse to the authorities.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.
