EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
About 100 people filled an auditorium at Ivy Tech Community College on Tuesday to learn more about the state's child abuse and neglect hotline.
That presentation was free and was set up by the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence.
Some of those in attendance were therapists, social workers and mental health professionals.
They heard from Andrea Goodwin, the director of the hotline, which is through the state Department of Child Services.
She went through a Powerpoint about the hotline and how it works then answered quite a few questions.
The state started a hotline, that is centralized in Indianapolis, two years ago to create a greater consistency as people call in to report possible abuse and neglect.
It's no longer a situation where you call someone in your city or county.
One professional at Tuesday's presentation told 14 News she saw it as a way to develop trust in that statewide system.
"I think the big benefit is for us to have a development of the trust of what that system looks like. It's very hard with the idea that the call center was centralized in Indianapolis back in 2010. Since that time, I think there have been a lot of questions about whether the children and the youth in our community are getting their needs met or not. We want to make sure that voices are heard," said Davi Stein, the Director of Social Work at YouthFirst.
Callers to the hotline can remain anonymous and the hotline is staffed 24 hours a day.
In Indiana, any adult who thinks a child may be suffering from abuse or neglect is required by law to call and report it, or go to the authorities.
The hotline number is 1-800-800-5556.
