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EAC Network’s Suffolk County Child Advocacy Center Hosts Blue Ribbon and Pinwheel Garden Ceremony for Child Abuse Awareness

Central Islip, NY –  May 5, 2019 – April was Child Abuse Prevention month and a chance for communities nationwide to stand together to promote safe, healthy, and happy childhoods for every child in their neighborhood. Since 2008, pinwheels have been recognized as the national symbol for child abuse prevention through a national campaign by Prevent Child Abuse America.

EAC Network’s Suffolk County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) reduces the trauma of child sexual/physical abuse or neglect and promotes the coordinated prosecution of offenders. The CAC, in conjunction with the Women of West Islip, Girl Scout Troops 551 and 897, the Economic Opportunity Council, and other community members who care, planted a pinwheel garden to represent that individuals can have a positive effect on a child’s life and that every child deserves a happy childhood. To present the pinwheel garden, representatives and honored guests, including County Executive Steve Bellone, Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter, Islip Town Clerk Olga Murray, Suffolk County Department of Social Services Commissioner Frances Pierre, Jeanette Marino, representing Islip Town Councilwoman Mary Kate Mullen’s office, and Olga El Sehamy, Deputy Director of the Youth Bureau for Suffolk County, cut a blue ribbon, which is also a symbol of child abuse prevention.

The CAC’s initial goal was to plant 450 pinwheels. Through the combined efforts of all involved, including other participating groups like ClearVision Optical, 585 pinwheels were planted.

Child abuse – whether physical, sexual, neglectful, or psychological – is a nationwide issue that affects children of all ages. 90% of abusers are related in some way to the child, and 1 in 10 children are sexually abused before their 18th birthday. Roughly 70% of sexual offenders of children have between 1 and 9 victims; 20-25% have 10 to 40 victims. EAC Network’s CAC offers a calm and neutral place for children to be interviewed, examined medically, and evaluated psychologically by a multidisciplinary team. Over 450 children in Suffolk County alone are served by the CAC each year.

To learn more about EAC Network’s Child Advocacy Center, visit www.eac-network.org/suffolk-county-child-advocacy.

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About EAC Network

EAC Network is a diverse not-for-profit human service agency that empowers, assists, and cares for over 82,000 children, families, and seniors in crisis across Long Island and New York City. Among those we help are children who have been abused or who are in foster care, people struggling with addiction or mental illness, vulnerable seniors, individuals seeking gainful employment, and more. For more information, visit us at www.eac-network.org, call (516) 539-0150, or find us on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram at @EACNet.

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