From May to December 2011, there were 3,455 reports of child abuse/neglect in St. Louis County. Each day the Jewish Family & Children’s Service Child Abuse Prevention Program works to reduce this number. Its four-tiered, evidence-based prevention program provides children with the skills to recognize dangerous situations and how to respond to them.

In honor of Child Abuse Awareness Month, CAPP will host Rabbi Dr. Joseph S. Ozarowski at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 22 at the Richmond Heights Community Center, 8100 Dale Avenue.  

Rabbi Ozarowski, the Rabbinic Chaplain to the Jewish Healing Network of Chicago, will speak on “Does sparing the rod spoil the child? Jewish approaches to interacting with children.” The program is free and open to parents, caregivers, social workers, clergy, teachers and other concerned community members.

The program will show the Torah perspective on parenting in general, including how parents should relate to their children and vice versa. Ozarowski will also speak on what is considered abuse and what is not according to Jewish sources. He will give tips for leading children with words and discuss the limits of what parents can and should be doing to discipline their children. 

Ozarowski also serves as Jewish Chaplain at Skokie Hospital, and is Visiting Rabbi at Congregation Darchei Noam in Minneapolis. For over 30 years Ozarowski has enjoyed a distinguished career as a pulpit rabbi, educator, author and chaplain.  

For more information, contact Jennifer Bernstein at 314-993-1000.