by Christian Morrow and J.L. Martello
Courier Staff Writers
Blue flags, 4,693 of them.
That is how many flags volunteers placed along Grant Street in Pittsburgh on April 10, each flag representing a child that was hurt by abuse or neglect in Pennsylvania last year.
There were an additional 40 children who did not survive last year as a result of child abuse. The flags placed Downtown in honor of them were Black flags.
But for those children who did survive, they did so because dedicated people helped them with emergency childcare, or family support, or legal, medical and psychological services. People like Kristen Glass, a social worker at Jeremiah’s Place in Larimer, and Dr. Mary Carrasco, executive director of A Child’s Place, which has offices in Pittsburgh as well as Beaver, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Both women were honored for their work by the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance as part of its inaugural Blue Ribbon Champions for Safe Kids event at One Oxford Centre, which also remembered the victims of child abuse with ceremony and song which included Pittsburgh CAPA students and kids from Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pa.
April is National Child Abuse Awareness Month.
Joining alliance President and CEO Angela Liddle were a number of state and local officials including Second Lady of Pennsylvania Gisele Fetterman, state Human Services Secretary Cathy Utz, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, County Department of Human Services Director Marc Cherna, and Miss Pennsylvania, Kayla Repasky.
“No child should ever be neglected or abused,” said Liddle. “And it is our responsibility to work together as a community to ensure that every child living in Pennsylvania has the opportunity to grow up in a safe environment that is free of abuse and neglect.”
Carrasco explained that A Child’s Place provides a child-friendly, safe and neutral space where law enforcement, Child Protective Services and medical professionals can interview children and investigate alleged child abuse.
Allegheny County Department of Human Services operates a 24-hour ChildLine for reporting suspected abuse at 412-473-2000 or 1-800-932-0313. Callers will be asked to provide: the child’s name; the child’s address; the child’s age; the name of the primary caregiver; and a description of the concerns that prompted the call. Suspected abuse reports can be made anonymously.
“If you think a child isn’t safe, you don’t have to investigate that,” Liddle said in an interview on KDKA-TV. “You don’t have to be 100 percent right. There are paid professionals who are trained to investigate the safety and well-being of kids.”
Jeremiah’s Place is a different kind of agency—it is the region’s only crisis nursery, providing emergency 24-hour, or even care for several days, to infants and children when parents, for whatever reason, cannot. Sometimes, it might be a single mother having another child with no one to watch her small children while she is in the hospital. Other times it may involve a domestic violence situation.
Glass said to receive an award for her work is humbling, but also inspiring.
“This inspires me to continue to do the work and get the word out because it shows me there are even more people out there doing this work and who are passionate about helping children and serving the community,” she told the New Pittsburgh Courier.
“A lot of times, we’re the only option for a safe place for families to leave their children. I think the planting of the flags is really important because provides perspective for people who maybe don’t have a clear understanding of how many children suffer from abuse and whose lives are lost.”
Lisa Perry, executive director of Jeremiah’s Place, said Glass’ work is “impeccable, the way she is able to connect with families to give them a sense of dignity in the midst of seeking help.”
Sometimes, a mother or family member may be apprehensive about coming to an agency for assistance. But “Kristen has a way of honoring who they are,” Perry told the Courier. “That’s a really unique gift. She’s young but she is light years older in terms of how she approaches things. I’m honored to have her on staff here.”
Jeremiah’s Place, which has been in existence since 2014, serves children from birth to 6 years old. Perry said families contact the agency at 412-924-0726 with emergent crisis situations. Oftentimes, “our moms (or grandparents), they get overwhelmed and they don’t have any added supports, so we can watch a child for a few hours, a few days, give the mother a chance to take a deep breath and step away from it a little bit,” Perry said.
Jeremiah’s Place is holding an open house on Thursday, April 25 from 5 to 7:30 p.m., at 6435 Frankstown Ave., for the community to tour their facility and learn more about their programs. Perry said Jeremiah’s Place has assisted 830 children from 526 families since the agency’s inception.
“Oftentimes you don’t know you need us until you need us,” Perry said.
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