Child abuse next steps

Here's a quick update on the child abuse town hall from last week. We had more than 250 people come to the York Jewish Community Center to explore the challenges we face in confronting child abuse and to explore possible solutions. It was by all accounts a productive conversation.

YorkCounts emphasized going in that we didn't want the discussion to end at the meeting; we asked for a commitment from the stakeholder group to meet again to flesh out plans for next steps and goals.

That's happening.

YorkCounts is working with Bev Mackereth, director of York County Human Services Department, to bring the stakeholders back together for a meeting in late July or early August. The purpose of that meeting will be to identify one or two next steps that can be undertaken right now and to discuss who else should be at the table for any kind of broad community conversation about child abuse. The group will also explore which organization might be best suited to serve as the clearly identified "face" of child abuse prevention and education for the county. And finally, and maybe most importantly, folks will also be asked to participate in a planning retreat that will be used to develop a structured, coordinated plan for reducing child abuse in York County.

We were pleased at the response to the town hall; it seemed like a community conversation that had been waiting to happen. And now we're energized by the stakeholders and their willingness to take the next steps.

We'll help them in whatever ways we can. And we wish them luck. There's a lot of important work happening in York County, but I'm not sure anything could be more important than protecting our most vulnerable citizens.

- Dan Fink