April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time for communities to come together to protect children, strengthen families and build communities. 

Partners in Prevention

In recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, the Greater Bay Area Child Abuse Prevention Council Coalition members have joined to increase awareness about child and family well-being, and work together to implement effective strategies that support and strengthen families, and prevent child abuse and neglect.

Child abuse and neglect is a persistent and pervasive problem throughout the Bay Area. It impacts all of our children, families, communities, and society at large. In 2021, the Bay Area had 56,278 reported survivors of abuse, with 4,322 reports verified by the system. That’s one child with abuse reported every 9.3 minutes.

Child abuse and neglect not only morally degrades our society, it significantly hurts our economy. In fact, the physical, mental, and emotional effects persist long after child maltreatment occurs and result in ongoing costs to every sector of the Bay Area. The estimated cumulative financial impact on the Bay Area for the 4,322 verified child survivors is $2,260,000,000. 

The good news is that child abuse and neglect is preventable. We all have a role to play in building safe, stable, nurturing homes and creating conditions in communities where all children and families can thrive. For that, we must understand and address the factors that put people at risk or protect them. 

To raise greater awareness, Greater Bay Area Child Abuse Prevention Council Coalition members created an activity calendar so that family and community partners can register and engage throughout the region. Help us protect children and families by educating yourself and sharing what you learn with others. Wear a blue ribbon or plant pinwheels in your yard to show your commitment to keeping children safe. Together we can make it easier for families to access support services and learn how to identify and build on family strengths. 

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Today

Wear Blue for Kids! (OLD)

Napa Cope Family Center

Grab something BLUE and wear it on April 1 on the first day of Child Abuse Prevention month to bring awareness to child abuse and to support prevention efforts in Alameda County. Post on your favorite social media and #wearblue4kids!

Blue Ribbon Month Social Media Challenge (OLD)

Napa Cope Family Center

Use your social media to do good! Post selfies at scavenger hunt locations using #GoBlueForKidsNapa for a chance to win prizes while you raise awareness about child abuse prevention!

Get outside while raising awareness about our Child Abuse Prevention Campaign. Visit and take a selfie AT any of the Blue Ribbon Businesses, then post it using #GoBlueForKidsNapa. Every photo counts as an entry to win weekly prizes throughout April and a special prize at the end of the month.

GO BLUE with us! (OLD)

Solano Child Abuse Prevention Council – Children’s Network of Solano County

GO BLUE with us! CAPC of Solano will have a special presentation at our May meeting highlighting countywide efforts to increase child abuse prevention awareness in Solano County. We want to high- light your agency’s efforts to increase prevention and awareness. Share with us pictures of your child abuse prevention activities and events during the month of April to be included in this special presentation.

Making Connections: Generational Trauma webinar (OLD)

Alameda Contra Costa Marin Monterey Napa Partners in Prevention San Francisco San Mateo Santa Clara Solano Sonoma Greater Bay Area Child Abuse Prevention Council Coalition

Online event

Dr. Shandi Fuller will describe the impact of generational trauma on our communities, and recommend ways to connect and support children and families who are working through trauma.

While trauma researchers have made great strides in understanding and treating single-episode present-life trauma, we are just beginning to explore the impact of generational trauma and its expression. In this presentation, Dr. Shandi Fuller will describe the impact of the transatlantic slave trade and systemic racism, and recommend ways to connect and support children and families who are working through trauma. Dr. Fuller is Deputy Health Officer/Maternal Child and Adolescent Health (MCAH) Medical Director in Solano County and a consultant on equity and trauma-informed practices.

Earth Day Celebration (OLD)

San Francisco Safe & Sound

Florence Fang Community Farm Diana Street, San Francisco

Come celebrate Earth Day with Safe & Sound and the Junior League of San Francisco!

Children have a chance to be cultivate their green thumbs with real farmers at the Florence Fang Community Farm.

Sign up by emailing info@safeandsound.org with your name, email, number and age of children, and language preference.

Follow-up email with address to be sent a few days prior to the event. Space is limited so sign up today!

Virtual Mandated Reporter Training (OLD)

San Francisco Safe & Sound

Online event

Learn the basics of mandated reporting (what, when, why, how); understand each type of abuse, its legal definitions and indicators; learn frameworks that can help inform your suspicions; understand what happens after a report is made; learn to consider how culture and bias plays a role in reporting; and learn how to respond to disclosures of abuse.

Healthy Relationships: Teaching Appropriate Interactions, Boundaries, Self Advocacy and Identifying Coercion for People with Disabilities (OLD)

Sonoma Prevent Child Abuse-Sonoma County

Online event

Join us for an important training with Dr. Katie Pedgrift and Amy Machado that will explore how we can support people with developmental disabilities to build healthy and meaningful relationships, while also providing them with information about sexual abuse and coercion. The speakers will discuss resources that are available for providers, schools, and parents to support them to directly teach people with developmental disabilities about safe relationship development, sexual health, and how to decrease risk factors associated with sexual abuse.

This will be a presentation in English with simultaneous interpretation in Spanish.

Deconstructing Unconscious Bias and Unintended Racism when Working with Children and Families (OLD)

Marin Sonoma Prevent Child Abuse-Sonoma County Marin Child Abuse Prevention Council

Online event

Join us for an important training with Dr. Sharon Washington that will explore the unconscious bias & unintended racism that exists when working with children and families. This training will discuss racial/ethnic inequities, historical trauma, racial trauma, racial socialization, whiteness, structural racism, and provides learners tools and strategies to increase allyship and accompliceship.

Virtual Mandated Reporter Training (OLD)

San Francisco

Online event

Learn the basics of mandated reporting (what, when, why, how); understand each type of abuse, its legal definitions and indicators; learn frameworks that can help inform your suspicions; understand what happens after a report is made; learn to consider how culture and bias plays a role in reporting; and learn how to respond to disclosures of abuse.

The Child Abuse Prevention Month Virtual Speaker Series (OLD)

Santa Clara Child Abuse Prevention Council of Santa Clara County

John Woodrow Cox, Washington Post reporter and author of the award-winning Children Under Fire, An American Crisis, will speak about the effects of gun violence on children, and how communities can work to strengthen their resiliency.  Mr. Cox is also writing a series of forthcoming articles for the Washington Post on children who have lost a parent to gun violence.

A Conversation With Mary Ritter – a life in the service of children.  Mary who has been conducting sexual assault forensic examinations on children for decades will reflect on her life’s work, and how to sustain a career in the service of abused children.  Mary will provide her insights on how she built her own resiliency, and finds meaning in her work.

Blue Sunday (OLD)

Alameda Alameda County Child Abuse Prevention Council

Where faith communities come together and take a stand against child abuse

To remember the millions of children who are victims of abuse/neglect, Blue Sunday Child Abuse Prevention is asking the faith community to pray on Sunday, April 24, 2022.

​April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. It began when a report about abused and neglected children caught the attention of President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Sadly, since that first Child Abuse Prevention Month, the number of abused victims has grown from half a million children to over six million new reports of abuse along with 1600 child abuse related deaths annually. One is too many.

Find out more at www.bluesunday.org

The Child Abuse Prevention Month Virtual Speaker Series (OLD)

Santa Clara Child Abuse Prevention Council of Santa Clara County

Katherine Lucero, New Director of the New State Office of Youth and Community Restoration, will speak about the new agency she is leading, the work to help justice involved youth, so many of whom are themselves survivors of abuse and neglect, and the resiliency they have and need.

Panel Discussion On the Challenges Schools and Children in School Face During this Ongoing Pandemic

Paint the Town Blue

Napa Cope Family Center

Support local businesses and child abuse prevention at the same time. Local businesses are taking a stand to make child abuse prevention a priority in our community. Join them by dining, shopping and sipping with them all through April.

Walk With Me to Prevent Child Abuse

Napa Cope Family Center

Join the Walk With Me Walk-A-Thon to help prevent child abuse and neglect! Every mile you walk (or run, hike, bike, etc.) will honor the victims of child abuse in our community and every dollar you raise will immediately be put to use protecting vulnerable children in our community.

Kids Day

Napa Cope Family Center

Cope Family Center 707 Randolph Street, Napa

Join us at this FREE family fun event where there will be many resources for parents and families, activities and games for children, entertainment, food and so much more. Get ready for a day of fun, festivity and family!

Aspen Forum on Children and Families: From Child Welfare to Family Well-Being

Over the course of a year, leaders from across the country came together for the Aspen Two-Generation Prenatal to Three Learning and Action Community (2GP3 LAC). Today, you will hear key findings from their work and explore lessons for truly centering prevention and upstream solutions in systems of care for families.

Let’s Chalk about Prevention

Alameda Alameda County Child Abuse Prevention Council

Strong Families Alliance encourages Alameda County families to grab some chalk, head outside and create art and messages for child abuse prevention month.

Connecting with your children through play is a wonderful way to show them care and security. Grab some sidewalk chalk and draw, write, and play! Snap pictures and tag the Strong Families Alliance of Alameda County across your social media accounts!

Moving from Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting: Introduction and Parent Perspectives

California CA Office of Child Abuse Prevention

The Office of Child Abuse Prevention, in collaboration with the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Sacramento and Casey Family Programs, brings an opportunity to further explore the paradigm shift from mandated reporting to community supporting as a model for being responsive to the needs of children, families, communities, and Tribes. An overview from Safe and Sound of the issue brief “Creating a Child & Family Well-Being System: A Paradigm Shift from Mandated Reporting to Community Supporting”.