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Raising awareness about child abuse in the Rio Grande Valley

2 years 11 months 4 days ago Wednesday, April 14 2021 Apr 14, 2021 April 14, 2021 8:39 AM April 14, 2021 in News - Local

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time when many organizations come together to help bring awareness to the issue.

Local nonprofit Benchmark Family Services say in the U.S., half a million children are in foster care and in need of homes.

In the Rio Grande Valley, children looking for homes increased once the pandemic hit.

"There was a spike numbers, it did increase, it did go up tremendously during this time," said Benchmark Family Service Regional Director Osiris Canedo.

Before COVID-19, the nonprofit’s case load on abused children needing foster care was at about 150 a month. Right now, that number increased to about 300 to 350 a month.

To learn more or get involved with this local nonprofit, call 956-683-9035.

The abuse and neglect hotline number is (800) 252-5400.

Watch the video above for the full story.

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