After being derailed by COVID-19 last year, the Kingfisher County Court Appointed Special Advocates program is planning a visual representation of confirmed local child abuse and neglect cases to commemorate April as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Heather Jones, volunteer coordinator for Kingfisher and Blaine county, said Kingfisher County is participating in a wooden children project, where 53 toddler-sized wooden children will be displayed on the county courthouse lawn.

Each wooden child represents a confirmed victim of child abuse and neglect in the county during the 2020 fiscal year.

The children are approximately two feet wide by three feet tall and are available to be “fostered” by local individuals, churches or organizations for $25 each.

Sponsors of each child willbe responsible for dressing him or her and then displaying the child at a location of their choice from March 23-April 1.

The wooden children will then be brought to the courthouse between 5:30 and 6 p.m. for display on the courthouse lawn for the month of April.

“We suggest the children be dressed in size 3T stretchy clothes,” Jones said. “Clothes purchased from thrift stores would work, but personalizing your children with T-shirts representing your organization can be fun too.”

Once posted at the courthouse, each wooden child will also wear a badge identifying his or her sponsor.

The “Wooden Children Project” was orginally started in 2013 as a project of the Garfield County Child Advocacy Council and has since been adopted by CASA programs throughout the Fourth Judicial District.

“It’s a visually impactful way of making the community aware of the number of children who are abused and neglected in each county,” Jones said.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a wooden child is asked to email Jones at VolCoorS a thecarecampus. com or call her at 580-213-9963.