Ada, OK

    As a part of Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, the Chickasaw Nation Department of Family Advocacy and Youth Services sponsored a ribbon tying project throughout the city of Ada.

    Volunteers tied blue ribbons on trees located on traffic medians to remind citizens that child abuse prevention is everyone's duty.

    According to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), almost 62,000 incidents which contain allegations of serious or immediate threats to a child's safety are investigated each year. On average, OKDHS confirms more than 13,000 of those incidents are abuse and/or neglect.

   The Chickasaw Natin hopes to raise awareness of child abuse prevention with teh blue ribbon project.

(( reprinted from the Chickasaw Times article by: Karissa Pickett))