Light of Hope: Ribbons reflect abused children

WASILLA — Hundreds of cases of child abuse are confirmed in the Mat-Su each year, and hundreds more go unreported. It’s a national problem that has many officials searching for local solutions.

As part of the Valley effort, the Light of Hope project will again illuminate throughout April as Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, said Jamey Duhamel, outreach coordinator for the Valley’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) office and coordinator for the event.

Beginning at 2 p.m. today at the fence surrounding Wasilla High School near the intersection of Crusey Street and Bogard Road, hundreds of mint green ribbons will be tied to the chain links — one for each confirmed case of child abuse in the Valley in 2009.

Duhamel invites everyone to attend today’s ceremony, and took time Friday afternoon to talk more about Light of Hope and child abuse awareness.

Frontiersman: What is Light of Hope?

Duhamel: It’s an annual event coordinated by several social service agencies in the Valley to recognize National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, and to bring awareness about child abuse and neglect in our community.

F: What are some things about child abuse in the Valley people may find surprising?

D: Well, there were 345 children who were substantiated as being abused or neglected in the Valley in the year 2009. Those are just the substantiated reports, there were far more allegations. … Right now, there are between 200 and 300 (children) in foster care in our Valley. With Light of Hope, one of the things we focus on is remembering children who are waiting for safe, permanent homes. That (estimate) reflects about 13 percent of children who are in foster care in the state.

F: How long have you been hosting Light of Hope?

D: This is the seventh annual event. We’re really grown the program. In the last three years we’ve grown it quite a bit to an attendance of about 300.

F: What message would you like the community to take away from Light of Hope?

D: Ultimately, I’d like to see the numbers go down. We have seen that somewhat, but it’s not really bucking the national trend. We do try to give parents and children resources and information they need.

F: What can people do to fight child abuse and neglect?

D: Prevention is difficult. Preventative care is very often the type of thing that’s not funded by the government. It’s hard to show the numbers that never happened. That’s certainly still a very popular attitude to take, that you don’t want to get people in trouble. But if you suspect child abuse or neglect, (don’t) have a larger feeling of apathy. Often times it may be abuse that happened for years on end, and when it finally comes out, family, neighbors, grocery clerks who may have noticed signs and didn’t act.

F: Just what is child abuse or neglect?

D: There are several different kinds of child abuse. Child abuse is any kind of parenting technique or behavior that causes a risk to the health or safety of a child.

F: Experts often talk of “breaking the cycle” of child abuse. If a child has been abused, how much more likely are they to become abusers?

D: That’s an interesting question. There are various research studies that contradict each other. Certainly, if you’re raised in an environment where violence is the norm, you develop parenting styles and coping styles that follow suit. We know that boys who grow up in homes with domestic violence are more prone to become abusers. The same (for girls).

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.