by - December 26, 2012 12:15 pm
Holiday-time violence reports mixed
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — It is a common belief that the holidays is a time that is not so jolly for some families, in fact it becomes even scarier as domestic…
Yearly Searies
by - October 22, 2012 5:03 pm
Shewmaker, others give to Child Protection Center
About a year ago, NorthWest Arkansas Community College announced it would be the site for the Southern Region National Child Protection Training Center. The campaign goal for that reality was…
by - October 16, 2012 8:05 pm
Flute ‘echoes’ help sexual abuse victims
Martha Johnson, or “Miss Martha” as her students refer to her, doesn’t know the children’s stories. She’s not sure she wants to. You can understand the apprehension as a new…
by - October 1, 2012 5:58 pm
Changes planned for sex offender registry system
Lloyd Jones was a model registered sex offender. Following his 2001 conviction for rape, he was paroled in 2008 and received discharge two years later. “He was one of my…
by - September 10, 2012 12:43 pm
Life skills effort pushed by Fort Smith Junior League
A young man wakes up and realizes he’s late for day one of his first job. While many adults — perhaps even his boss — would be shaking their heads…
by - August 22, 2012 11:35 am
Child abuse takes economic toll
The cheerful and colorful pinwheels placed throughout Northwest Arkansas every April remind passersby that child abuse still ravages young lives in the community. Each pinwheel represents a child who was…
by - August 21, 2012 3:31 pm
WATCH fights for sexual abuse victims
Paula Riggs remembers carefully laying out the plastic across her car seats. It was a day about 15 years earlier when she agreed to transport a 14-year old girl in…
by - July 11, 2012 3:35 pm
Arkansas seeks to add foster care workers, families
The Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) for Area II, which includes Crawford and Sebastian Counties, has launched a campaign to add 10 new family service worker (FSW) positions…
by - June 13, 2012 12:58 pm
Child abuse reports hit record in May for Benton County
BENTONVILLE — You don't need to look far to discover one of the scariest statistics in Benton County. The number is 85. It is significant because that's how many cases…
by - June 7, 2012 1:21 pm
STEPS better connects children with parents
“Not everyone can be a foster parent, but everyone can help a foster child.” Fort Smith citizen Susan Hooks shares these words from the office of Safety Training Education Prevention…
by - May 7, 2012 9:16 am
Burnett fights back against innocence lost
Phil Donahue was the first person to tell Laurie Burnett what was happening to her was wrong. “When other kids were watching Gilligan’s Island or The Brady Bunch, I was…
by - April 27, 2012 11:11 am
Officials: Federal cuts put Arkansas children at risk
School officials who deal with thousands of children at-risk for child abuse or neglect are themselves at risk of losing their jobs this July. The federal government dealt a blow…
by - April 17, 2012 10:41 am
Hamilton House provides a world of escape, support
On the first floor of Mercy Tower in Fort Smith, just past the elevators and a slight turn to the left, there is a simple door cut into the wall….
by - April 11, 2012 10:20 am
A place to stay
Hundreds of abused or neglected children in Arkansas can’t find immediate shelter when the state steps in. Children sleep in caseworkers’ offices when there is no room in foster homes…
by - April 5, 2012 10:51 am
Pinwheels raise child abuse awareness
Some 416 colorful pinwheels decorate the lawns of city police stations across Benton County. But a sign posted in their midst tells why, and instantly erases the smiles of those…
by - April 3, 2012 11:32 am
A little giver
Avery Lanning is a typical third grader who loves the color lime green, puppies and horses “a little bit.” But unlike other 8-year olds, Avery began a fundraising campaign —…
by - April 2, 2012 8:58 pm
‘Step Up, Speak Out’ rally plans ready
On Monday (April 2), the Park at West End in downtown Fort Smith went blue, the official color of child abuse awareness and prevention. The Noon Exchange Club of Fort…
by - March 19, 2012 7:15 pm
Move on to combat child sex trafficking in Arkansas
Kirk Rhoads firmly believes Arkansans must fix weak laws against child sex trafficking. So, the Mountain Home activist began an online petition that garnered about 100 signatures in about a…
by - March 12, 2012 4:41 pm
Sicard: ‘We want to protect our community’s children’
When the Penn State sex abuse scandal erupted, the world watched as allegations of sodomy came to light involving former Nittany Lions assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and a 10-year old…
by - February 27, 2012 9:52 am
Abuse hard to overcome for KFSM 5 weather chief
Close to three decades have passed since a San Jose, Calif., six-year old stepped off his school bus, ready to make the short walk back to his home. The child…