Putting Child and Family First : Junior League Is Honored for Its Efforts to Curb Abuse and Adolescent Pregnancy

Those fighting on the front lines in the escalating battle against child abuse were honored last week when the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Orange County staged its 11th annual Community Advocacy Dinner.

At the invitation of the council, the Orange County Board of Supervisors and Frank Fasel, the presiding judge of Juvenile Court, 300 guests turned up at Le Meridien in Newport Beach to applaud the Junior League of Orange County, which received the council’s Child Advocate of the Year Award. The $50-per-person dinner also raised about $10,000 for the council.

League Saluted

Tables were decorated with balloons and toy boxes that had small teddy bears and miniature rocking horses on their lids. Guests were served chicken with Forestiere sauce on a bed of spinach and a chocolate cup filled with fresh berries and raspberry coulis.

After the All-American Boys Chorus sang a medley of show tunes and patriotic numbers, State Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) and Supervisor Thomas F. Riley presented the Child Advocate award to the Junior League. The league was chosen for its commitment to help stop child abuse and adolescent pregnancy in the county.

“We thought we’d be more effective if we targeted two issues,” said Virginia Genovese, immediate past president of the league, who accepted the award. “We really feel strongly we can make a difference.”

Among the league-sponsored projects: Orangewood Children’s Home, which received a $117,000 grant for its building fund from the league; Court Appointed Special Advocates, a program launched by the league in 1983 to represent children who have been made dependents of the court through abuse and neglect, and the Child Abuse Services Team, a program designed to reduce the trauma experienced by child victims of sexual abuse.

Uphill Battle

Marking its 20th anniversary this year, the Child Abuse Prevention Council is a coalition of more than 90 agencies as well as businesses and individuals committed to the prevention of child abuse.

Last year there were 36,721 reported cases of child sexual, physical, emotional abuse and neglect in Orange County--the highest number to date.

“People are shocked when they learn we have a problem in Orange County,” said Shelley Westmore, council chairwoman. “But child abuse cuts across all neighborhoods.”

Families under stress who don’t have outside support are at the greatest risk, she said. The council tries to prevent abuse by providing family counseling, parenting classes and support groups to such families.

To alert people to the child abuse problem, the council launched its 1994 Child Abuse Prevention Campaign called “Open Your Heart to a Child.” As part of the campaign the council distributed 50,000 blue ribbons and educational bookmarks during April (Child Abuse Prevention Month).

“The idea was to give people something they can do to prevent child abuse,” said Barbara Oliver, director of the council.

The Blue Ribbon Campaign originated in 1989 when Bonnie Finney, a grandmother in Norfolk, Va., learned her grandson had died from child abuse, Oliver said. Finney tied a blue ribbon around the antenna of her van in her grandson’s memory.

“She chose the color blue because she didn’t want to forget the battered and bruised body of her grandson,” Oliver said.

Proceeds from the dinner will benefit the council’s Life Enrichment Assistance Program, which offers grants and scholarships to youths leaving foster or group homes.

Among the guests were Carole Neustadt, event chairwoman; past council presidents Betty Clark, Anne Nutt, Martha Killefer, Evelyn Young, Margaret Jager, Marcia Adler and Dee Knapper; Larry and Carol Leaman, Sylvia Valles, Deborah Vaswani, Beth Groves, Gene and Linda Howard, Mary Hendrickson, Jim and Judy Nelson, Ron and Merry Lloyd, Del and Glennda Mourer, Lilia Powell, Judith Swayne, Pamela Iles, Frank and Mary Ann Xavier.