An agency that's protected Quad Cities children for 40 years will celebrate its birthday Wednesday night. The Child Abuse Council was founded in 1977, and originally called the Council on Children at Risk.
Director of Development, Angie Kendall, says their mission has stayed the same - trying to prevent abuse and neglect - but their programs have changed through the years. Currently the council is focusing on young children, from birth to age 5, with what she calls the "public health model of prevention."
"Primary prevention where everyone's at risk for abuse and neglect so we need to help all parents and support all families. Secondary prevention where some populations are more at risk because of things going on in their lives - we're going to provide more intensive support and prevention. And tertiary prevention which is often called treatment which provides treatment for the child and family to heal to stop the abuse from ever happening again."
With a full-time staff of 20, the Child Abuse Council offers classes, blogs, home visits, therapy, and has a child protection center in Muscatine.
Kendall says the council helped 6,000 children last year from the Quad Cities area.
The birthday celebration will be held at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, during Wednesday night's River Bandits game.
