MARION – Marion County Children Services is planning events to reach out to and educate the community during Child Abuse Prevention Month, which is observed in April.

Francis Hernandez, placement services supervisor for Children Services in the county, said the agency is hosting the Wear Blue and Pinwheels for Prevention events to help increase awareness about child abuse.

She said that in 2015, 1,939 Marion County children and their families received support services from the agency, and 863 assessments of safety were conducted in response to reports of neglect, physical or sexual abuse, emotional maltreatment, or dependency.

Hernandez said Children Services is encouraging locals to take part in Wear Blue on April 13. Participants are asked to photos of themselves with family members, co-workers or friends and post them to Facebook with the hashtags #WearBlue2016 and #marionkids. Photos also can be emailed to moreinfo@marionkids.com.

“What we have done over the last couple of years is really reached out to the community and done a lot of social media,” she said. “We’ve asked individuals and corporate entities, our partners, to help show their support by wearing blue and taking a selfie that day. We use those photos to show that you are supporting our agency and supporting the cause. Last year, Marion County had the most hashtags posted of any of the 88 counties in Ohio for Wear Blue. We’re hoping that Marion County will continue to show that support again this year. We find that our social media page is really what is connecting in the community.”

Hernandez said agency officials were encouraged by the number of people who participated in the social media effort.

“The important thing is that we are really blessed and excited to see that the community is really understanding the role that we play in this community and the role that they play,” she said. “Without people being the voice for a child, we wouldn’t even be in existence.”

The Pinwheels for Prevention initiative will kick off March 31, Hernandez said, when the agency will plant 863 blue pinwheels on its campus, which is at 1680 Marion-Waldo Road. The pinwheels represent the number of assessments the county’s Children Services completed in 2015. The month will wrap up with Pinwheel Play Day on April 30.

“Since we’ve been doing Pinwheel Play Day, this is the highest number of pinwheels we’ve planted,” she said. “All of our staff will wear blue shirts, and we’ll go out and plant the 863 pinwheels this year. We have a few Girl Scouts that are going to be joining us. I’m excited that they’ll be on spring break and have the chance to come. It’s a representation of the services that we do for the children that live in the community.”

Pinwheel Play Day will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 30 at the agency’s campus. That event is free and open to the public.

“We’re inviting the community to come out and have a fun family day,” Hernandez said. “We’re inviting all of the nonprofit, prevention partners in the community. That’s just a great time for people to come out and see what these organizations have to offer in our community and mingle with them. We’ll have inflatables for the kids and face painting. It’s just going to be a fun day.”

Children Services offers child abuse and neglect training for the public. The training is provided at no cost for Marion County residents. Three-hour and six-hour sessions are offered. Hernandez said the next training session is March 25.

“This training is geared to educate mandated reporters as well as the community to learn more about our screening guidelines and what does child abuse and neglect really look like,” she said. “The community needs to know what to look for, and some people just don’t know. Understanding what the state guidelines are is important, too.”

For more information about the child abuse and neglect training sessions, contact Erin Turner at Erin Turner at 740-386-0428 or Erin.Turner@jfs.ohio.gov.

For more information about Marion County Children Services, visit www.marionkids.com. The agency’s Facebook page is Marion County Children Services. It also maintains a Twitter account, @Marion_Kids.

eacarter@gannett.com

740-375-5154

Twitter: @AndrewCarterMS