11th ANNUAL PINWHEELS FOR PREVENTION PINWHEEL PLANTING & AWARD CEREMONY

Additional Information

Billings---April is Child Abuse Prevention Month! The Family Tree CenterBillings Exchange Clubs’ Child Abuse Prevention Center will host their 11th annual display of Pinwheels for Prevention Thursday, April 11th on the Yellowstone County Courthouse Lawn – 217 North 27th Street. Help us and local area children plant pinwheels at 12:00pm. A celebration will be held at 12:15pm to promote individual action to make children a community priority. We will have a Mayoral Proclamation and letters will be read from Senator Tester, Senator Daines and Governor Bullock followed by our Pinwheel Award presentation. The Family Tree Center’s Annual Pinwheel Award will be presented to a local community member in recognition of outstanding support and contributions to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. We are encouraging everyone to wear BLUE, the color signifying child abuse prevention, to the event.

The pinwheel represents, for so many people, what every child deserves—a happy, healthy childhood. Through nurturing parents, so they can do the best possible job nurturing their children, we know what we do at The Family Tree Center each day is helping to Build Stronger Families, a better community, and safer kids.

In 2008, Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the pinwheel as the new national symbol for child abuse prevention through Pinwheels for Prevention®. The pinwheel represents the happy, healthy childhood every child deserves. Over the years, the pinwheel has taken off and is a popular symbol of the great childhoods we want for all children.

Pinwheels for Prevention raises awareness of the importance of preventing child abuse and neglect right from the start and of “stopping the hurt before it happens”. Since 2008 more than 5 million pinwheels have been distributed nationwide. The pinwheels help to express that through a collective community commitment, We ALL can play a role to prevent child abuse and neglect.

The theme for Billings’ event is “Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect. We ALL Play a Role”. Child abuse and neglect are preventable. We ALL can do something to prevent child abuse & neglect. 372 blue and silver pinwheels will be planted representing the 37,196 children in our community (Montana Kids Count) and the hope for their healthy development. 1 pinwheel will represent 100 children. The pinwheels are compliments of the Downtown Exchange Club.

This morning the Breakfast Exchange Club planted a pinwheel garden on the lawn at Metra Park. They planted 455 pinwheels representing the 227,377 children in our state. 1 pinwheel represents 500 children. The display will be up until the end of the month. The Breakfast Exchange Club will also be handing out pinwheels to children at the PBR Rodeo on Friday, April 12th.
Montana Women’s Prison Parenting Program

• April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time to celebrate the good things our communities do to promote healthy child development and help prevent child abuse and neglect.

• We ALL have a role to play in healthy child development, and our goal this April is to help others recognize that role and the ways we can maximize our impact.

• We want to help people understand that it’s possible to do the things they love—cooking, making art or music, reading, or playing sports—and, at the same time, help families and their community thrive. Because small steps can make a big difference in a child’s life–and a parent’s as well.

• Everyone wants to provide and nurture their child in a positive, healthy environment, but sometimes parents need a little support along the way.

• In a national survey, 94% of parents said they needed help of some kind; 86% said they would be grateful for services, childcare or other support. However, in a separate study, fewer than 20% of parents said they would actually seek help.

• Suggestions to help support parents and create great childhoods for children in your community while doing what you love include:

• Love to read? Volunteer for an after-school reading program or book club—you’ll help kids meet new friends and spark their imaginations, too.

• Love to cook? Give a new mom a break by bringing over dinner.

• Love sports? Coach a youth sports team to teach kids the value of teamwork—they’ll learn how to trust teammates and themselves.

• Love to play host or hostess? Host a kid-friendly BBQ or organize a block party so parents can socialize without the stress of finding a sitter—social connections with other parents helps to establish a strong support network.

• Want your voice to be heard? Contact your elected officials and urge them to support policies and programs that promote safe healthy childhoods.

**Please also join us in promoting the Prevention of Child abuse & neglect by recognizing BLUE MONDAYS. Wear Blue, the color signifying child abuse prevention, every Monday in April. April 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29 Send pictures of you, your family, co-workers, neighbors, etc. wearing blue to: stacyd@familytreecenterbillings.org and we will post them on our facebook page.

Other local events in April:

April 23rd 5pm – 10pm Fundraiser at the Last Chance Pub & Cider Mill

April 28th Blue Sunday. A day for churches to wear blue, plant pinwheel displays & engage in activities to observe Child Abuse Prevention month.

Contact us to purchase: pinwheels to plant your own Pinwheel Garden $1 each OR PINWHEEL LAPEL PINS $5 each both can be purchased at: The Family Tree Center 2520 5th Avenue South Billings, MT 59101 (406) 252-9799 office@familytreecenterbillings.org
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The Family Tree Center has been providing services to support and strengthen families in Yellowstone County and the surrounding areas for over 33 years. Thousands of families have benefitted from Parent Aide and Parents as Teachers In-Home Mentoring Programs, Nurturing Parenting Classes, Respite Childcare, Parents Evening Out, Family Fun Nights, Montana Women’s Prison Parenting Program, Voices of Incarceration ReEntry Project (an 8 week re-entry group and ongoing support for parents and resources and support for caregivers of children with incarcerated parents), and Parenting and Prevention Education Workshops (which teach parents, teachers, child care workers, and others about recognizing, reporting, and preventing child abuse and neglect). All of the services offered by the Family Tree Center are offered with the express purpose of preventing child abuse and neglect and are available to ANY family in the community.

The Family Tree Center, along with being an Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center, also co-directs Prevent Child Abuse Montana with the Parenting Place in Missoula, a statewide chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America promoting the healthy development of all Montana children.
Child abuse and neglect affect over 1 million children a year. The consequences of child abuse and neglect conservatively cost the United States a staggering $80 billion each year, or nearly $220 million each day. Aside from the economic costs involved, child abuse and neglect takes an unacceptable toll on our children. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) created through child abuse and neglect can lead to a whole host of other social problems for its victims, including substance abuse, school dropout, teenage pregnancy, involvement in the juvenile and adult corrections systems, mental health concerns, chronic physical health ailments, and, unfortunately, even death. The costs of such human suffering are incalculable.

According to the Montana Child and Family Services Division, child abuse and neglect is on the rise in our state. The number of substantiated child abuse and neglect cases in Montana has gone from 1,052 in 2014 to 4,403 in SY2018. In Yellowstone County the number of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect has increased from 177 in 2014 to 719 in SY2018. This number is staggering and continues to rise! We need to provide more prevention programming to families in our community and state.

Prevention programs such as those offered by The Family Tree Center cost significantly less monetarily - $10 spent in intervention versus $1 spent on prevention - as well as in significant human costs.

Pinwheel displays have a multi-pronged purpose:

To present a fun, community involved way of thinking about prevention  To focus community activities and public policies on the ways and means of prevention  To stress that family health is crucial to community and economic development, and that investing in our most vulnerable citizens benefits all of us  To encourage everyone to become educated on the issues and then to take action in support of a world free of child maltreatment

Pinwheel gardens are springing up everywhere in April from New York to Los Angeles and even in Hawaii. There will be displays at the Capitol in Helena, in Missoula, Great Falls, Billings & more. Why pinwheels? The pinwheel represents the health, happiness, and bright futures we wish for all children.

We ALL can do something to prevent child abuse & neglect!