(INDIANAPOLIS) - The Indiana Department of Child Services, in collaboration with The Villages, honored the start of Child Abuse Prevention Month on Friday.

A virtual event was held featuring Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, DCS Director Terry Stigdon, The Villages CEO and President Shannon Schumacher and others.

Holcomb says that the States' partners providers, hospitals and schools, along with the community, play such a vital role in keeping children safe, healthy and happy.

Indiana is a mandatory reporting state, which means anyone who suspects a child has been neglected or abused must, by state law, make a report.

Stigdon says wearing blue or carrying and planting pinwheels and posting them on social media will raise awareness, but in and of themselves won’t stop harm from happening to children. He says it stops when people take action.

For more information and resources in preventing child abuse and neglect, you can visit. Click Here.