The most important thing to know about child abuse — and not only during the National Child Abuse Prevention Month of April — is anytime you see, hear or suspect something, say something, Gov. Jared Polis said Wednesday, while touring Safe Passage in Colorado Springs.

The children’s advocacy center is the state’s only site where kids who have been sexually abused and their supportive families or caregivers can receive assistance in the same building from multiple agencies, from law enforcement and child welfare to medical attention and therapy sessions.

The offices work collectively to conduct criminal investigations, provide immediate treatment and promote prevention.

“It’s a one-stop shop,” Polis said after the tour. “In many places, people need to go three to four places to get all the services.”

Polis stopped at the center Wednesday morning, prior to appearing at the 40th Space Symposium at The Broadmoor hotel.

Safe Passage works with 700 to 800 kids a year who have been sexually abused, Executive Director Maureen “Mo” Basenberg told Polis. The organization receives $133,000 annually from the state, she said, which goes toward its annual operating budget of about $1.6 million.

New this year at Safe Passage, which opened its children’s advocacy center at the end of 2021 at 2335 Robinson St., is the addition of free, in-house mental health services for clients, provided by the organization’s staff clinicians.

National Child Abuse Prevention Month raises awareness about the sensitive topic and in doing so, helps prevent instances from occurring and encourages people to report their suspicions.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline, 844-CO-4KIDS, which has fielded more than 1 million calls statewide over the past decade, according to the state Department of Human Services. Of those, 350,000 were determined to require further assessment.

Cases of sexual child abuse generally have increased to reflect population growth, said Catania Jones, director of Children and Youth Family Services for El Paso County. 

“Child safety has always been child safety, but how we approach child safety has changed over the years, and we’re pretty proud of that,” she said.

Having a children’s advocacy center co-located under the Safe Passage umbrella has helped employees working in the field and benefits victims, Jones said.

“Child protection has learned and understood we need to be trauma-responsive and that decisions around children can and should be made with our partners,” Jones said. “Having places to land that are not government-based really encourages a foundation for being trauma-responsive.”

Last year, the state hotline received 23,497 calls reporting suspected abuse of any nature in El Paso County, which generated 17,578 referrals involving local children, the county Department of Human Services reported. Not every referral results in an investigation, spokesman Paul Myers-Bennett said.

That’s a decrease from the 23,567 hotline calls made in 2023 and the 17,747 referrals from 2023.

El Paso County commissioners as well as city leaders in Colorado Springs, Fountain, Manitou Springs, Green Mountain Falls, Calhan, Monument and Palmer Lake approved resolutions to honor this month’s observance.

In keeping with tradition, hundreds of blue and silver pinwheels are “planted” on the lawn outside Centennial Hall, a county seat where the commissioners meet.

Inspired by Pinwheels for Prevention, a national initiative launched in 2008 by Prevent Child Abuse America, the pinwheels are a reminder that every child deserves a safe, happy childhood and stand as a symbol of hope and a commitment to child safety in the community.