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4,693 flags placed in Pittsburgh to raise awareness about child abuse | TribLIVE.com
Allegheny

4,693 flags placed in Pittsburgh to raise awareness about child abuse

Tom Fontaine
Tom Fontaine
1004708_web1_PTR-childabuseflags02-04011019
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Stephanie Merrill, of Dillsburg, Pa., a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, helps plant flags, Downtown, on April 10, 2019. In total 4,693 blue ribbon flags were planted along Grant Street representing the amount of child abuse cases reported annually in Pennsylvania.
1004708_web1_PTR-childabuseflags01-04011019
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Stephanie Merrill, of Dillsburg, Pa., a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, helps plant flags, Downtown, on April 10, 2019. In total 4,693 blue ribbon flags were planted along Grant Street representing the amount of child abuse cases reported annually in Pennsylvania.
1004708_web1_PTR-childabuseflags07-04011019
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Tim Winbush, a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, helps plant flags, Downtown, on April 10, 2019. In total 4,693 blue ribbon flags were planted along Grant Street representing the amount of child abuse cases reported annually in Pennsylvania.
1004708_web1_PTR-childabuseflags06-04011019
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Tim Winbush, a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, helps plant flags, Downtown, on April 10, 2019. In total 4,693 blue ribbon flags were planted along Grant Street representing the amount of child abuse cases reported annually in Pennsylvania.
1004708_web1_PTR-childabuseflags05-04011019
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Tim Winbush, a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance, helps plant flags, Downtown, on April 10, 2019. In total 4,693 blue ribbon flags were planted along Grant Street representing the amount of child abuse cases reported annually in Pennsylvania.
1004708_web1_PTR-childabuseflags04-04011019
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Flags planted by volunteers with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance are seen along Grant St. Downtown on April 10, 2019. In total 4,693 blue ribbon flags were planted along Grant Street representing the amount of child abuse cases reported annually in Pennsylvania.
1004708_web1_PTR-childabuseflags03-04011019
Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review
Flags planted by volunteers with the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance are seen along Grant St. Downtown on April 10, 2019. In total 4,693 blue ribbon flags were planted along Grant Street representing the amount of child abuse cases reported annually in Pennsylvania.

Members of the Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance and local volunteers on Wednesday placed 4,693 blue-ribbon flags along Downtown Pittsburgh’s Grant Street and the Boulevard of the Allies to represent each child hurt by abuse and neglect in 2017.

The event was held in conjunction with National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

“No child should ever be neglected or abused and it is our responsibility to work together as a community to ensure that every child living in Pennsylvania has the opportunity to grow up in a safe environment that is free of abuse and neglect,” said Angela M. Liddle, the alliance’s president and CEO.

The latest Annual Child Protective Services Report from the state Department of Human Services shows much work remains to reach that goal. Here are some key 2017 statistics:

2,704,268

Children under age 18 in Pennsylvania

47,485

Reports of child abuse investigated by Pennsylvania authorities

4,836

Reports substantiated by investigating authorities

40

Pennsylvania children who died as a result of abuse, including 32 under age 5

88

Pennsylvania children who suffered near-fatal injuries as a result of abuse

Tom Fontaine is a TribLive deputy managing editor. A journalist in his native Western Pennsylvania for more than 25 years, he joined the Trib in 2009 and has won regional, state and national awards. He can be reached at tfontaine@triblive.com.

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