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

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

Tom Fontaine | Thursday, April 11, 2019 11:32 a.m.

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.

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

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

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

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