Madison County backs child abuse prevention
by Randy Pierce • Child Abuse Prevention Month is currently being observed in Madison County, according to information presented at a meeting of elected officials and staff held on Thursday, April 2.
Jenny Wilkinson, director of the county’s child advocacy center, which is located in Wood River, called attention to this when speaking to the members of the Madison County Board Judiciary Committee. She explained that the observance was kicked off at Riverbend Family Ministries on April 1, with many of those she was speaking to in attendance, in an effort to raise public awareness concerning the need to curtail the abuse of children, something she said is 100% preventable.
As part of this effort, there are 440 cutouts depicting victimized children who have been interviewed by Wilkinson’s department in 2025 displayed in front of the meeting room area at the county administration building in Edwardsville in an effort to call attention to the varying ages of them and how both genders can be affected.
Wilkinson added that, this week, a display case concerning this topic will be set up in the lobby of the administration building while noting child advocacy center representatives will be out in various parts of the county throughout April, meeting with service providers and participating in community events, including another one at Riverbend Family Ministries on April 23, to help promote the goal of reducing this problem.
She also said her department will be part of a public awareness project taking place at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville on Thursday, April 30.
“I would love for us to do such a great job,” Wilkinson told the judiciary committee, “as a community that I don’t have a job anymore. So put me out of work.”
The aforementioned 440 cutout illustrations of children indicate the number of forensic interviews conducted by the Child Advocacy Center in 2025, Wilkinson said while adding there were a total of 608 who were served in some form during the calendar year.
She said the actual “prevention numbers” had increased in 2025, the result of the goal of “teaching kids how to be safe, who are unsafe and safe people in their lives and how to be safe when using technology,” thusly reducing their risk of being abused which is “the ultimate goal.”
The Child Advocacy Center portion of the Madison County web site calls attention to two hotlines that can be called regarding child abuse situations. There is one at the national level, 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-CHILD) and another based in Illinois, 1-800-252-2873 (1-800-25-ABUSE).
