**Media Advisory/Photo Opportunity: 9:30 a.m., Monday, April 4, at Huyck Park, Rensselaer, NY**

OCFS gathers to plant pinwheels to mark April as Child Abuse Prevention Month

WHO:             New York State Office of Children and Family Services Commissioner Sheila J. Poole leads pinwheel planting outside OCFS home office in Rensselaer. Joined by OCFS Executive Deputy Commissioner Suzanne Miles, OCFS Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Child Welfare and Community Services Lisa Ghartey Ogundimu, OCFS staff and Rensselaer city staff.

WHAT:           Photo opportunity in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month (April). Blue pinwheels planted to raise awareness and provide support from OCFS staff. Pinwheels are the universal symbol for child abuse prevention. They connote playfulness, whimsy, joy and childhood. Prevent Child Abuse America introduced the pinwheel in 2007 as the new national symbol for child abuse prevention.

WHEN:           9:30 a.m. Monday, April 4, 2022

WHERE:         Huyck Park/OCFS

                        52 Washington St./Rte. 151 (across the street from Rensselaer City Hall)

                        Rensselaer, NY  12144

DETAILS:       For the first time since 2019, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services will gather as a team to plant pinwheels to mark April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. (They are planted annually, but during the pandemic, OCFS couldn’t gather as a group.) OCFS recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to spread the message, and we are glad to partner with the City of Rensselaer.