Events 

A True Story:

My nephew, a police officer in Williamsburg VA, shared the following true story with me. Recently, while on patrol, a young man around 30 years old approached him and asked, "Are you officer Slodysko?". With a little apprehension and a step back, He replied "Yes, what can I do for you?". The young man answered, "You probably don't remember me but 20 years ago you helped my mother and gave a teddy bear to my sister and me. I just want to thank you! And by-the-way, I still have my teddy bear."

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Some of the problems police face:

1. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 139,042 children were injured in traffic crashes in 2020, 380 children were injured every day.

2. Domestic Violence Services, Inc. states that approximately five million children witness domestic violence each year in the United States. A research paper titled “Police intervention in domestic violence incidents where children are present: Police and children’s perspectives” examines police intervention in domestic violence incidents involving children drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from police records and interviews with young people and police officers. The quality of police communication with children and young people emerged as key, and police officers evinced reluctance to engage with children at domestic violence incidents. Providing the police with training and information designed to improve their skills and confidence might promote communication with children in this context.

 Richardson-Foster, H., Stanley, N., Miller, P., & Thomson, G. (2012).

Children from homes with violence are much more likely to experience significant psychological problems short and long-term. Children who have experienced domestic violence often meet the diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the effects on their brain are like those experienced by combat veterans. Living with domestic violence significantly alters a children’s DNA, aging them prematurely 7-10 years. Children in homes with violence are physically abused or seriously neglected at a rate 1500% higher than the national average. Those who grow up with domestic violence are six times more likely to commit suicide and 50% more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.

                                                                             

1. It is estimated that there are about 70 million Deaf people who use a sign language as their first language, and it is also the first language to many hearing individuals .  

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An extrapolation from a John Hopkins study and census bureau data from 2016, shows approximately 5,976,407 (12yr old and above) Marylanders. Of those, 759,000 (approx. 12.7%) are deaf or hard of hearing in both ears.

            

 

 With your support, we can provide tools to help emergency service providers deal with children involved in or facing the above-listed problems. Tools such as Teddy Bears, American Sign Language (ASL) and other language training. Please Donate Today

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