Beech Tree News Network

The City of Morgantown and Butler County proclaimed April 2016 as National Child Abuse Prevention Month Tuesday morning in the lobby of the Butler County Courthouse. Butler County Judge Executive David Fields and Morgantown Mayor Billy Phelps signed the proclaimation and was joined by several community leaders.
National Child Abuse Prevention Month has been observed each April since its first presidential proclamation in 1983.
 
Approximately 3,000,000 children are reported abused or neglected in the United States each year, with 47 cases substantiated and/or in need of services in Butler County from January 2015 through December 2015, effecting 69 children.
 
The official recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month by the City of Morgantown and Butler County affords child abuse advocates an opportunity to coordinate their efforts and to educate the public in unison, causing citizens to become more aware of the negative effects of child abuse and the strategies for preventing child abuse.