According to the Crimes Against Children Research Center that one in ten children suffer from child maltreatment and one in five girls and one in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse. Talbot County Child Protective Services has responded to 205 reports alleging child physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect since 2014.
To address this growing issue, the Talbot County Department of Social Services is working with a committee of Talbot County citizens who want to prevent child abuse in the community. The program adopted to accomplish this mission is called “Empower Me.” The “Empower Me” program offers free child abuse prevention training to the community. This training provides an opportunity for agencies and community members to have a format for educating children, parents and other adults about child abuse prevention through personal safety.
The Empower Me “Train the Trainer” training for community members will be held on September 29 at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Easton, MD. Training is being offered in two sessions, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The message delivered through the training curriculum is that all kids are special and deserve to be safe. The training teaches adults to help children identify the “uh-oh” feeling and to empower them to know what to do when they identify these feelings.
For further information about the program or to register for one of the “Train the Trainer” sessions, contact Katie Russ at 410-770-5227 or [email protected]. Pre-registration is required. Participants should arrive 30 minutes prior to the start of each session.
Child Safety is everyone’s responsibility.
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