Renea Austin-Duffin, Secretary, commented, Any child death is one death too many. Child abuse and neglect are serious issues that cannot be ignored by the community. The Department makes every effort to intervene in situations involving these conditions, but we cannot fully do our jobs without the cooperation and support of the local community and authorities. Today I ask people to not only mourn those children who have lost their lives already to this violence, but also pledge to take an active role in preventing its occurrence in the future. The incidence of violent child deaths demands our attention.
Action needs to be taken to stop preventable child deaths, regardless of the cause.
This includes protecting children from guns by unloading and locking the guns and ammunition separately, strengthening child protection services, providing after-school programs as safe havens for all children and funding drug treatment for addicted parents. There are many reasons for child and adolescent mortality, both in Louisiana and nationally. The Department of Social Services encourages everyone to join us in honoring those who have died prematurely on National Children s Memorial Day.