April is Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month. The Department of Family & Children’s Services along with the Chattooga County Coroner Jeremy McElhaney, local law enforcement, and  EMS recently participated in a symbolic pinwheel ceremony at Dowdy Park recently in honor of the reported child abuse/neglect cases last year in Chattooga County.  Coroner McElhaney say, “Please remember that it takes everyone to prevent child abuse and neglect”.  In Georgia, child neglect is defined as the failure to provide proper parental care or control, subsistence, education (as required by law), or other care necessary for a child’s physical, mental, or emotional health, as well as inadequate supervision or abandonment. Child abuse encompasses physical injury or death inflicted by a parent or caretaker, neglect or exploitation, sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation of a child. To report suspected child abuse or neglect in Chattooga County, Georgia, you can call the DFCS Child Protective Services 24/7 hotline at 1-855-422-4453 (1-855-GACHILD) or visit cps.dhs.ga.gov