| If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected in Florida, the law requires you to report it to the Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE (1-800-962-2873). For more information on reporting child abuse and neglect, please read Reporting Abuse |
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Introduction
Through our national signature campaign, Pinwheels for Prevention®, Prevent Child Abuse America is focusing on changing the way our nation thinks about prevention, emphasizing community activities and public policies that prioritize prevention from the start to make sure child abuse and neglect never occur. As an outgrowth of this effort, which has introduced the pinwheel as the symbol for child abuse and neglect prevention in the U.S., Prevent Child Abuse America is proud to offer "Pinwheel City USA," a program whereby cities and towns of any size across the nation can apply to receive this designation to recognize their commitment to and activities in support of child abuse and neglect prevention over the previous 12 months. Jacksonville, FL, was named the inaugural Pinwheel City USA recipient in April 2010 and Wichita, KS, was chosen in April 2011.
Objectives
- Recognize cities and towns for their commitment to healthy child development and child abuse and neglect prevention;
- Inspire additional cities and towns to make child abuse and neglect prevention a priority; and,
- Elevate child abuse and neglect prevention as a national priority by connecting cities and towns under the Pinwheel City USA umbrella.
Criteria
The criteria for being named a Pinwheel City USA fall into two categories: "Substance," which measures a town or city’s substantive commitment to child abuse prevention through the programs and services available to families, and "Style," which measures a city/town’s visible commitment to child abuse prevention through the Pinwheels for Prevention campaign over the previous 12 months. The criteria within these two categories that will serve as our "checklist" for making these determinations include the following:
Substance
- A department within the local government has specific responsibility to develop and implement a child abuse and neglect prevention plan. The plan could have been adopted more than 12 months ago, as long you can demonstrate the elements are currently in place. The city may work in concert with a local agency, or consortium of agencies, to accomplish this work (as long as there is demonstrable city involvement). Elements of this plan must include:
- Definition of prevention as abuse and neglect never occurring in the first place;
- Clearly delineated and measurable goals and objectives for preventing child abuse and neglect, and an evaluation component to measure progress against these goals and objectives;
- Formation and engagement of a multi-disciplinary local body that assists with the development and implementation of the plan;
- Designation of a governance structure that provides legitimacy and credibility to the process and monitors progress against the plan;
- Demonstrated active support from, and endorsement of the application by, the city/town’s top governing official and /or other top-ranking officials;
- Creation of an inventory of, and evidence that there is adequate access to, a variety of child abuse and neglect prevention services and programs for families (such as parent support and education, shaken baby or sexual abuse prevention, and respite services);
- Identification of, and plan to address, risk and protective factors;
- Engagement of community partners, including (though not limited to) schools, universities, social service agencies and other non-profits, the faith community, community service clubs and local businesses;
- Evaluation component to measure the effectiveness of the stated goals and objectives; and,
- Legal authority exists for these actions.
- Child abuse and neglect prevention is identified as a specific line item within the city/town’s or appropriate department’s annual budget, or a lead agency or collaborative body working in concert with/on behalf of the city has allocated funding toward child abuse prevention.
Style
- Evidence that the city or town is involved with or implementing Pinwheels for Prevention in partnership with the Prevent Child Abuse America state chapter, including (though not limited to) the following activities:
- Use of national messaging standards in combination with all Pinwheels for Prevention activities (e.g., not equating pinwheels with cases of or deaths from child abuse or neglect, but using pinwheels to reflect families/children served, healthy births or general statements of support for child abuse prevention and/or healthy child development);
- Visible civic commitment, as evidenced through the public display of pinwheels and/or Pinwheels for Prevention signage or related materials;
- Active involvement of local leaders, including elected officials, teachers, athletes/coaches, media personalities, actors/actresses, leaders in the faith community and businesspeople;
- Implementation of public activities, such as fundraisers, rallies, health fairs, conferences, symposia or media events; and,
- Coverage and/or promotion of child abuse prevention and/or healthy child development by local media via public service announcements, advertising, media coverage (print, radio, television or social media), or other means.
- Issuance of a proclamation recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
General Criteria
- Cities and towns of any size can apply;
- Up to ten Pinwheel City USA designations will be awarded in any given year;
- Previous winners interested in continuing the Pinwheel City USA designation must submit an application and will be subject to the same review process as other applicants; and,
- The Prevent Child Abuse America President and CEO wishes to personally present awards to winning cities. On the application you will be asked to provide preliminary date options and a description of the event(s) at which you would incorporate this presentation if named a 2012 winner; events can be any time from March to July. The President & CEO will accommodate winners’ schedules to the best of his ability. If for any reason the date does not work, we ask for flexibility to work together to find a date, or different event, that will work for all.
Application and Review Process
The following application and review process will be implemented:
- The application can be found in the attached. Application should be received (not postmarked by) Friday, December 2 -- email preferred. No late entries will be accepted. Winners will be announced by Friday, January 27, to allow time to plan for presentation of award to winners.
- Applications are being distributed through Prevent Child Abuse America’s chapter and Healthy Families America networks, national board and staff, and select partner organizations.
- There is no fee to apply.
- Applications will be reviewed by representatives from Prevent Child Abuse America’s staff, chapters and National Board of Directors.
Pinwheel City USA Recognition
In recognition of a city/town’s designation as a Pinwheel City USA, Prevent Child Abuse America will:
- Issue the following:
- Award to display in location of city/town’s choosing
- Electronic Pinwheel City USA logo to feature on city or town website and/or other locations of city/town’s choosing
- Template press release to customize for local promotion
- Opportunity to purchase additional Pinwheel City USA designation materials, including roadside signs, flags, street pole banners, shirts, hats and buttons.
- Provide recognition via Facebook reaching more than 3.7 million people and on Pinwheels for Prevention website.
- Promote in national Pinwheel City USA press release.
- Work with winning cities on additional promotional strategies as they emerge.
Benefits to Communities of Pinwheel City USA Status
In addition to the above-mentioned forms of public recognition, recipient communities will also be encouraged to leverage their Pinwheel City USA status to:
- Pursue foundation, corporate, state or federal funding for additional child abuse prevention or related services and programs;
- Highlight Pinwheel City USA status as another "quality of life" benefit the community offers for resident and business retention and recruitment.; and,
- Spur additional activities around and commitments to child abuse and neglect prevention.
Questions
Questions can be directed to:
Matt Feldman
Senior Director of Marketing
Prevent Child Abuse America
228 S. Wabash Avenue, 10th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604
P: 312/663-3520 x861
F: 312/939-8962
E: mfeldman@preventchildabuse.org
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