Foothills Child Advocacy Center hosting training sessions to spot signs of abuse virtually

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - As many children continue to learn virtually, students who are experiencing abuse in the home may be going unnoticed.

That’s why the Foothills Child Advocacy Center is hosting its first Zoom training session for mandated reporters including teachers, daycare workers, medical professionals, and anyone else interested in learning how to spot signs of abuse virtually on Friday, November 20. This session is in addition to Foothills’ back-to-school training for teachers.

Cynthia Hurst is the executive director of Foothills and says most abuse cases that she deals with occur by someone the child knows. Hurst says it is more common than you think.

“We know that children are mostly at home. Some of them are in virtual school and some of them are going to school part-time so we wanted to up our game and let the teachers know how to spot potential child abuse virtually,” Hurst said.

You can sign up for the virtual session on the Foothills website or on their Facebook page. If you’re unable to attend this session, you can reach out to the organization to set up an individualized training session.