April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. To increase awareness and prevention, the Blue Ribbon Rask Force of West Central Illinois and other local organizations come together to host Hands Around the Courthouse events, informs Turning Point Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Samantha Wike:
“We serve all of Knox, Warren, and Henderson Counties. So we have our Hands Around the Courthouse in all three of the counties. We do separate dates for all of those. The Hands Around the Courthouse is part of the Blue Ribbon Task Force and with other agencies who work with children in the area. We all come together and we have guest speakers that come and we discuss child abuse as far as how many children are in foster care, how many children have been served through the Child Advocacy Center, and through other agencies as well,” says Wike.
“The one specifically for Warren County is scheduled for April 15th at 2 pm. Jill McClintock is our speaker. She is amazing. We love having her speak at our events,” Wike adds.
The Hands Around the Courthouse events in order locally are as follows:
Thursday, April 9th at the Knox County Courthouse in Galesburg – 2 pm
Wednesday, April 15th on the Monmouth Public Square – 2 pm
Thursday, April 16th at the Henderson County Courthouse in Oquawka – 2 pm
