“Blue Kids” yard signs and art contest highlight Child Abuse Awareness Month

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW) – Tuesday marks the start of Child Abuse Awareness Month. The Family and Children’s Center (FCC) is continuing its efforts to highlight the issue within the area.

The most noticeable signs will be “blue kid” yard signs at FCC locations across the region. New this year, these signs will also appear at community partners Dahl Automotive and Merchants Bank.

“It makes you stop and think just seeing these little blue people all over town. It just helps signify, bring awareness to the situation,” said Kori Hillestad, a universal banker at Merchants Bank.

Staff at Merchants Bank and Dahl Automotive will wear blue ribbons and provide informational brochures throughout April. FCC President and CEO Tita Yutuc emphasized these are all visual representations of a significant issue in the community.

“Last year alone, there were 541 forensic interviews,” said Yutuc. “And what that means, that they were interviews for children where alleged abuse had occurred, and that they came to a safe place, our child advocacy centers, to tell their stories, so that we were trying to minimize trauma, and if indeed that they were abused, to help them on the road to recovery.”

In addition to these efforts, an art contest titled “A Safe Family” will take place in Winona from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on April 10. The event will showcase art that depicts safe family interactions. The community will vote and winners will be announced at WNB Financial on April 17.

The Family and Children’s Center’s initiative aims to foster community involvement and awareness during Child Abuse Awareness Month.

Story originally aired on WXOW on March 31, 2025.

LA CROSSE (WKBT) — The Family & Children’s Center (FCC) in La Crosse is raising awareness ahead of Child Abuse Awareness Month in April.

Community members gathered Monday to plant blue cutouts of children at FCC’s headquarters to show their support for abuse prevention and intervention.

“The blue kids represent all the children across the nation and in our community that have been abused, and this is meant to create an awareness that child abuse has no place in our community,” FCC President and CEO Tita Yutuc said.

Merchants Bank locations in La Crescent, Caledonia, Winona, and St. Charles, Minnesota, as well as Dahl Automotive locations in La Crosse, Onalaska, and Winona, will also display the cutouts.

Story originally aired on WKBT on March 31, 2025.