Archive for April 2019

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

Help make great childhoods this April.

On April 10th, the Greater Waterbury Child Abuse Interdisciplinary Team (CAIT) will plant 100 pinwheels at their headquarters at Waterbury Youth Services to raise awareness that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and to remind residents that services are available for victims.

“The pinwheel is a national symbol of childhood,” says CAIT Director Stacey Rubinfeld. “Each year, we review approximately 100 cases of alleged child abuse so we planted 100 pinwheels to honor each one. Every child deserves a great childhood. Unfortunately, they are sometimes exposed to extreme trauma like child abuse and neglect. Our goal is to support the healthy development of these children and to ensure they are not further victimized by the interventions and systems designed to protect them.”

The CAIT team protects children in the Greater Waterbury area by responding to allegations of child sexual abuse, child physical abuse and serious neglect, as well as domestic minor sex trafficking.

The CAIT draws its strength from the combined knowledge of multiple disciplines brought by team members working co-operatively. Partners include: the states attorney’s office (both Adult and Juvenile), the Dept. of Children and Families, local police departments and State Troop A, trained medical personnel, mental health professionals, victim advocates from Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury and court-appointed by the Office of Victim Services, the Office of Juvenile and Adult Probation and Love 146.

If you have concerns or suspicions that a child is being abused, please call the Department of Children and Families hotline 1-800-842-2288 or your local police department.

In 2008, Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the pinwheel as the new national symbol for child abuse prevention through Pinwheels for Prevention®.

The Greater Waterbury CAIT is recognized as an accredited Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) by the National Children’s Alliance. All forensic interviews and medical examinations are conducted free of charge. CAIT was formed around 1990 and serves the communities of Cheshire, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Prospect, Southbury, Waterbury, Watertown, Wolcott, Woodbury and Troop A Southbury.