WARSAW — April is Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month and Beaman Home is celebrating the addition of a new campus where personnel can better care for young victims of domestic violence.

The effects of domestic violence on children can be long lasting and perpetuates the vicious cycle of abuse into the next generation.  That’s why Beaman Home Executive Director Tracie Hodson wants to remind community members that children who have witnessed domestic violence are more likely to experience depression, unacceptable social behaviors, anxiety, nightmares, teen dating violence and disruptions with school work.

“In fact, the trauma can be very similar to when children experience abuse themselves,” Hodson said.

DV survivors have shared with Hodson that parents need to be aware of the effects abuse has on children. They want them to know that love does not hurt and it is not okay to hit someone in anger.

Hodson added, “Children should not live in fear and learn that being abused is normal.” She encourages caring adults to teach the children in their lives to express their feelings and to talk with them about what worries them.

She also noted the Beaman Home can help abused parents work with their children through their outreach center, whether or not the family is housed in the emergency shelter. Trained staff offer programs devoted to helping children of abuse overcome the trauma they’ve experienced. Programs hope to decrease the generational cycle of violence prevalent in families of domestic abuse.

Family violence cuts across all society’s cultures and economic status and has a serious impact on children, a recent nationwide study indicated. If a parent is endangered, that threatens a child’s well-being. Children worry who will protect them if their parent is in danger.

The study interviewed children who had witnessed domestic violence. Three out of four children witnessed the violence, 21 percent heard it and 3 percent saw the injuries later. The violence included beating, hitting and kicking a parent or caregiver. One in 75 cases reported the child was also physically hurt. All the children experienced fear and anxiety and more than half said they were afraid someone would be hurt badly.

The children indicated the violence was one of their scariest experiences ever, according to the study published online in the APA journal, Psychology of Violence.

The new Parker Street emergency shelter and outreach center campus for domestic violence victims allows Beaman Home case managers and advocates to better serve these vulnerable children as well as their parents. Hodson added, “Completing the construction of the new facility is critical for our children’s programming and recreational space. The new services for the children tie directly to the improved self-sufficiency, job and life skills programs for adults.”  Hodson noted child victims represent roughly one-half of Beaman Home’s clients annually.

Beaman Home staff is already working from the new outreach center offering classes, support groups and case management for shelter and non-shelter clients. The exterior of the new facility will be completed the end of May and shelter clients will begin using the space in early August.

Funds have been raised to complete all but the upper floor of the two-story emergency shelter currently under construction. The community’s help is needed for the final $200,000 for the upper floor. Those wishing to help with this important project may call Hodson at (574) 703-0722 or email [email protected].