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By Ian Gustafson

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Go Blue Day raising awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month

Oct 24, 2024 | 5:01 PM

The Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre (CACAC) made an effort to raise awareness for Child Abuse Prevention Month on Thursday.

The organization welcomed members of the public from 2-6 p.m. Thursday to their first-ever Go Blue Day Open House at the Sheldon Kennedy Centre of Excellence in Red Deer.

Those in attendance were encouraged to wear the colour blue in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month, which is a province-wide initiative among multiple child advocacy centres.

The free event allowed the entire Sheldon Kennedy Centre of Excellence to show the public more about what they do. There were plenty of child-friendly activities including face-painting and balloon art.

Central Alberta Child Advocacy Centre CEO Mark Jones said this month is all about creating awareness so they can get prevention programs in place and so people in need understand there is help available.

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“You look at the system and right now when people don’t know what’s out there and that there’s help, often times they just continue to be in that abuse world,” Jones said.

“The longer they’re in the abuse world the more difficult it is for them to get the help long term in the mental health world. We’re trying to say an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure.

“If we can get these kids just at the onset of somebody doing something inappropriate, for those kids to be able to come back here we have a far better chance of helping them have a much healthier life.

The CACAC has created several education programs in place where they visit schools and work with teachers. In addition, they work with support staff and principals at local schools. They also do a lot of work and presentations at Red Deer Polytechnic.

They do work with the child exploitation and human trafficking programs as well as the child and family advocate program. They also have a program called The Climb that focuses on vulnerable Grade 9-12 girls among many other programs.

“Eventually the hope is for the Sheldon Kennedy Centre of Excellence to be a training hub, research hub, and also to be able to use data to show the best way to work with kids and families who are in the trauma world,” he added.

The CACAC is an organization that supports children who’ve experienced any form of child abuse. It is at the Sheldon Kennedy Centre of Excellence where every child can tell their story to a trained child forensic interviewer and receive additional support.

“It’s all about awareness and continuing to bring people together and have them be a part of the solution,” Jones said.

“People don’t know how to be a part of the solution but it’s as easy as making a call and coming and seeing what we’re doing.

“It’s well known that a child needs just one supporting adult to believe in them for them to be able to change their life. You have to be that adult, person, coach, and whatever it is for that specific child.”