The Rotary Club of Davis’ Child Abuse Prevention Program has donated $10,000 to the Yolo County Children’s Alliance and Child Abuse Prevention Council to continue supporting a part-time child abuse prevention coordinator in Yolo County.

CAPP was established in 1999 to support primary child abuse prevention programs as well as initiation public education and awareness events and activities. To date, the program has raised more than $250,000 through the club’s annual Big Night dinner-dance.

The Yolo County Children’s Alliance and Child Abuse council established the child abuse prevention coordinator position in 2009 to pull together efforts targeting child abuse countywide. Rotary supported that job with another $10,000 grant.

The incidence of child abuse is a national tragedy, says Rotarian Judy Wolf, who chairs the club’s educational program. In 2009, there were an estimated 702,000 victims of substantiated abuse or neglect in the United States, with nearly five children dying every day as a result of child abuse, she says. More than 75 percent of those victims were younger than age 4.

In Yolo County, there were nearly 2,000 reports of child abuse in 2009, and 421 were substantiated.

The nonprofit Yolo County Children’s Alliance was established in 2002 by the Yolo County Board of Supervisors as a way of addressing a number of community concerns that impact children and their families. Of particular interest to the Rotary Club of Davis is the Shaken Baby Prevention Program, which is promoted and staffed by the Yolo County Children’s Alliance and Child Abuse Prevention Council.

This program has proved through public awareness and education that the incidence of shaken baby syndrome can be reduced, Wolf says. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the almost 2,000 children who die from abuse or neglect each year, shaken baby syndrome accounts for 10 to 12 percent of those victims, she adds. About one-quarter of all children diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome die from their injuries.

Thanks to the Rotary Club’s support, every mother who delivers a baby in a Yolo County hospital sees a demonstration, using a shaken baby simulator doll, of what happens to a baby’s brain if it is shaken for as little as three to five seconds. Each mother also receives information about parenting programs available to them and how to get help if they find themselves stressed by a baby’s constant crying.

The packet also includes a 10-minute DVD titled “The Period of Purple Crying,” which contains information about normal infant crying and ways to protect the baby.

For more information about the Rotary Club’s Child Abuse Prevention Program, call Wolf at (530) 297-7584 or visit http://www.rotaryclubofdavis.com. For more information on available resources, call the Yolo County Children’s Alliance toll-free line at (866) 607-4030.

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Kalyca Seabrook, who works part-time for the Yolo Children’s Alliance as a part-time child abuse prevention coordinator, demonstrates how shaking a baby can cause severe and immediate brain damage. She’s using a simulator doll paid for by a grant from the Rotary Club of Davis. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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