A weird bruise.

A broken arm.

Flinching when a person raises their hand to talk.

These all could be signs that something is wrong in a child’s home.

To bring awareness to this very serious matter, Carbon County recently adopted a proclamation naming April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Carbon.

“Children are our most valuable resource and will shape the future of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (however) child abuse can have long-term psychological, emotional and physical effects that have lasting consequences for victims of abuse,” the proclamation states, adding that to combat this problem, there must be a strong network between families.

Support systems also need to include programs and partnerships with the community, schools, organizations and more.

“Our communities are stronger when all citizens become aware of the negative effect of child neglect,” the proclamation states.

Jill Geissinger, director of Children and Youth, said that going into a home following a report of abuse or neglect is hard on everyone, but the child’s safety is the most important thing to her caseworkers.

She outlined that in fiscal year 2023, there were 57 child fatalities in Pennsylvania with two near fatalities in Carbon County, both being fentanyl related. In addition, there had been 25 substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect in the county with 58% of them being sexual in nature, 23% being physical abuse and 19% other types of neglect like dental neglect.

“I want nothing more to be able to prevent child abuse, neglect and to help families have a better life through the resources that we provide in the county,” Geissinger said, noting that child abuse prevention falls on every member of the community, not just caseworkers that respond after a report is made.

“If a child is not acting well or right or they have unexpected withdrawal, please give us a call. If you see unexplained injuries or bruising, give us a call. A loss of weight or unreasonable fears around their caregivers? Give us a call.”

Geissinger also urged new mothers to please never co-sleep with a baby since they have seen three deaths from co-sleeping over the last two years.

“Please, please, please place your baby in a crib and avoid that concern,” she said.

The commissioners thanked Geissinger for all the department does and urged people to look at the signs and speak up to protect the children.

“People don’t realize what children and youth do for our area,” Commissioner Rocky Ahner said. “Caseworkers go into situations that I don’t even think armed guards would go into. ... People don’t realize what their everyday life is like. To me, it’s the worst job in the county, but it’s also the most rewarding when you see them coming out with kids that are either placed or able to be put back into their own homes.”

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein and Commissioners’ Chairman Mike Sofranko echoed Ahner’s thoughts.

“Children and youth is a dangerous job and their decisions are extremely important,” Nothstein said. “They have an extremely important job in this county.”

Nothstein added about one fire call he was on years ago and during that response, they found evidence that the baby in the house slept on the floor in a closet.

“These are the types of things that they get into,” he said. “Some of these places you just won’t believe how filthy they are, the conditions that these children are living in ... That’s when you have to bring in children and youth. That’s why they are there. You could be saving the life of that child if you report an incident.”

Sofranko said it was recently brought to the board’s attention that the county caseworkers were taking it upon themselves to feed the children when needed.

“There’s times when they take children and those children haven’t eaten and our caseworkers are paying for the food out of their own pocket,” Sofranko. “That says a lot about the people down there. ... That’s good people. They are going above and beyond.”

Geissinger said that caring for the children’s needs is part of their job and said that resources are available if needed.

If you suspect a case of child abuse or neglect, Geissinger said there is a hotline available 24-hours-a-day at 1-800-932-0313.