A child advocacy council in Oswego County is now reaching out to the public, to find ways to prevent child abuse and neglect. It's calling on the community to be a watchdog, and help to stop abuse and neglect.
Michelle Majerus is a teacher in the Pulaski School District and wants to protect the kids in her classroom.
"The information we get here tonight will tell us what is expected of us, and what the steps should be," said Majerus.
Tuesday night, she joined the conversation in a community forum put on by the Child Protection Advisory Council for Oswego County. The public weighed in on how to spot possible abuse, ways to stop it. Some people in the audience said state laws need to be strengthened, and people need to be more vigilant of the signs of abuse and neglect. Also talked about why it's important to give kids a safe place to turn for help if they need to report something.
"Ultimately its all about how we take care of our neighbors. I hate to say the cliché but it takes a whole village to raise a child and we need to be responsible for the children in the county," said Pulaski Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marshall Marshall.
Over the past few years, the Oswego Co. Department of Social Services has come under fire about how it's dealt with child abuse cases, particularly the death of 11-year-old Erin Maxwell. She was murdered in her home after being forced to live in deplorable conditions.
"This group was formed after that to try to figure out how can we do things better. And the thing about Erin's case is although it was a very tragic case there are many many more children, the child advocacy center serves 300 children a year, who survive child abuse," said Karrie Damm with the Child Advocacy Center. "While we are glad we can help them, we would like to prevent that."
In recent months CNY Central has uncovered two houses of squalor in Oswego County, including this one, where children were living in filth.
Child advocates say if you see something, you should say something. One of the goals of the Child Protection Advisory Council is to raise awareness in the community. There are a number of public forums scheduled throughout April and May. The next one is April 13th at the Scriba Town Justice Center from 6:30 to 8 PM.
