By JC Medina
The Thurston County Board of Health officially proclaimed April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, underscoring the community's responsibility to protect children and foster healthy environments.
The proclamation was announced at a meeting on Tuesday, April 8, that featured presentations from key stakeholders in child welfare, including Dr. Joyce Gilbert, a pediatrician from Providence Health and Seattle Children's Hospital, Christy Peters, chief of staff at the prosecuting attorney's office and Jessica Shen, a special victims prosecutor.
The proclamation highlighted the concerning statistics of child abuse in the county, noting 2,479 children were referred to Child Protective Services and accepted for further action in 2023.
Thurston County's child abuse rate of 39 victims per 1,000 children in 2023 was also reported as higher than the Washington state average of 35 per 1,000 children, according to the proclamation.
The board emphasized the crucial role of community partnerships among various organizations to effectively prevent child abuse.
During the presentation, Shen provided an overview of the caseload of the Special Victims Team.
“For felony special victims teen cases, we had 244 received cases, we charged 89,” Shen said. “In 2024, we had 218 received cases and 85 have been charged this year. In 2024, we specifically charged 32 cases involving children.”
She also highlighted the collaborative nature of their work, emphasizing the involvement of law enforcement, forensic interviewers, medical evaluators and victim advocates, including the courthouse dog named Sky.
Gilbert stressed the long-term impact of abuse on children, stating, "there is damage.”
“There's brain damage, there's body damage, there's self-esteem damage, there's all sorts of things that go lifelong," she said.
The pediatrician advocated for ongoing therapy and support for child abuse victims.
When asked about how the community can help, Gilbert replied, "I think acknowledging that child abuse occurs. I think open eyes and open doors and open ideas about how we prevent it and that's by education. How do we respond to it when we know it's happening and that's by having all the right people in all the right places.”
Peters echoed those sentiments, emphasizing the importance of well-trained detectives and attorneys, and the continued support from Thurston County and the Board of Health.
The discussion also touched upon the potential correlation between child sex abuse and human trafficking.
"We actually see very low instances of child trafficking ... (a) majority of the specific areas where the training and where individuals like that are actually arrested happen in larger metropolitan areas,” Peters said.
Gilbert concurred, noting while medical professionals are aware of the signs of trafficking, the numbers are low in Thurston County.
The proclamation concluded by urging all residents to actively participate in the care, well-being and protection of children and recognized Sunday, April 27, as "Go Blue Day," encouraging everyone to wear blue to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect prevention.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect corrected statistics from the county.
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