LOGAN —Over 300 pairs of children’s shoes will line the steps of the Historic Cache County Courthouse located at 199 N. Main in Logan on Monday April 28, at 12 noon to draw attention to child abuse in the Cache County area.
Dr. Sheryl Goodey, executive director of The Family Place Utah speaks at a previous event at the Historic Cache County Courthoouse.
The shoes are part of The Family Place’s annual Steppin’ Up for Kids event. Each pair of children’s shoes represents a case of child abuse in the valley.
This is one of the ways The Family Place Utah showcases their mission to strengthen the families and protecting children during National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Utah Family Strengthening Month said Jacob Stevens Marketing director of The Family Place.
“I believe this will help raise awareness to this issue and demonstrates our commitment of strengthening families,” he said. “We have been doing this activity for about 16th years.”
Not only do they set the shoes on the courthouse steps they also have a program about kids and their trauma.
“We stream this event on social media and have a featured speaker,” Stevens said. “This year’s speaker will be Sarah Huff, a well-known local performer and mother.”
Huff has been in roles as in Cache Valley productions including Mary Poppins, Eliza Doolittle or Maria von Trapp, and is known for sharing meaningful life lessons as a speaker. Huff hopes her honesty and authenticity will empower others to embrace both the chaos and the thrill of parenting.
The Steepin’ Up for Kids is a prelude to a May 3, Blue Ribbon Auction to be held at the Riverwoods Conference Center located at 615 Riverwoods Parkway Logan where they home to raise $250,000 dollars for the nonprofit organization.
“Dan Hansen as donated some pretty cool stuff for this year’s auction,” Stevens said. “He has a Patrick Mahomes jersey, and a Taylor Swift guitar and other items to be auctioned off.”
April was declared National Child Abuse Prevention Month in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan. The idea was to get public and private agencies involved in preventing violence towards children. Utah has renamed the effort to Family Strengthening Month in 2022.
Family Strengthen Month works into the Family Place Utah’s mission to strengthen families and protect children. They provide fun, family-focused events in the community. They also offer a variety of services such as therapy, educational workshops, and their Kid’s Place. The Family Place Utah will always be a place for families of all kinds. They welcome anyone who wishes to grow closer as a family to visit them.
Dr. Sheryl Goodey, executive director of The Family Place Utah said once in a KVNU For the People broadcast that prevention is important because they have found that if they can prevent child abuse, it saves a lot of tax money as opposed to intervention.
“I think that our community would be surprised to learn that in the calendar year of 2022, there were over 350 substantiated cases of child abuse,” she said on the program. “So, that is how many that are known, that have been investigated and are considered substantiated and just think of how many more there could possibly be that have not been reported.”
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) posted 9,278 reported cases of child abuse or neglect in Utah from July 2022 to July 2023. During that same period, there were 348 total confirmed (substantiated/supported) victims in Box Elder, Rich, and Cache counties combined.
DHHS wants the public to know the numbers are unacceptable and they are trying to do their best to reduce those numbers.
“This is a heartbreaking statistic that we find unacceptable, and they are committed to changing it,” a DHHS release said. “We would like to let people know they can help change these statistics in their own communities.”
Sarah Huff, a well-known local performer and mother will speak at Steepin’ Up for Kids on Monday April 28.
Tracy Gruber, DHHS executive director, is concerned about the number of cases in the state.
“Child abuse and neglect is reduced in communities with strong families,” said Tracy Gruber, DHHS executive director, “Sometimes life is stressful, and parenting is hard for everyone.”
She wanted to encourage neighbors and friends to reach out to people who may be experiencing tough times.
The Mayo clinic offers suggestions for recognizing child abuse:
A child being abused may feel guilty, ashamed or confused. The child may not want to tell anyone about the abuse, especially if the abuser is a parent, other relative or family friend. That’s why it’s vital to watch for these signs:
- Withdrawal from friends or usual activities
- Changes in behavior — such as aggression, anger, hostility or hyperactivity — or changes in school performance
- Depression, anxiety or unusual fears, or a sudden loss of self-confidence
- Sleep problems and nightmares
- An apparent lack of supervision
- Frequent absences from school
- Rebellious or defiant behavior
- Self-harm or attempts at suicide
Specific signs and symptoms depend on the type of abuse and can vary. The presence of warning signs doesn’t mean that a child is being abused.