(Spirit Lake)– The month of April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Shakira Meyer of Upper Des Moines Opportunity says child abuse remains a problem locally. She says UDMO has a special program available to address the issue…
“We have 99 counties in Iowa. Dickinson county ranks 46th in the state of Iowa in the number of child abuse cases annually. Through our Kids Program, we work to support families to build resilience. Specifically, the Kids Program works to support parents in learning parenting skills, supporting them to learn about child development, increasing the child’s readiness for school, and then supporting parents in some of those basic skills that you would think, oh, parents will know how to do that. But when it comes to potty training, behaviors and routines, sometimes parents aren’t ready to jump into that and so the Kids Program is free to any family interested, particularly focusing on those families that have risk factors, poverty being one of those, but we are available to everyone.”
Meyer says the Kids Program has been available in Dickinson county since 1990. She says it’s also now providing services in Clay, Emmet, Kossuth, O’Brien and Palo Alto counties as well…
“We achieved the Iowa Family Support credential in 2019. That’s a standard of excellence for those family programs. We continue to maintain that credential.”
Meyer adds mental health services and youth developmental activities play an integral role in the program…
“As part of our Kids Program we are involved in a child abuse prevention council. The Citizens Awareness Council is a joint group between Clay and Dickinson counties. Service providers across the area that support families. Through that entity we’ve been able to provide what we call mini grants and supporting families to engage their children in activities. It might be helping to pay for registrations for youth baseball, softball, soccer, youth football, helping with a pool pass. Really to engage those families in fun, interactions where the family is together, and then also connecting with other families in the community.”
More information about the Kids Program is available by contacting Upper Des Moines Opportunity.
