BATON ROUGE – Citing an unsettling revelation about the difficulties associated with their cause, advocates against child abuse announced in an email Thursday they were shutting down the Louisiana non-profit that worked to build awareness and promote safer lives for youngsters.

“Primary prevention is pretty intangible, and we’ve struggled to attract the financial support we really needed to accomplish our mission,” Amanda Brunson, of Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana, said in a statement.

Brunson also revealed she had announced plans to leave the group and join the governor’s office as director of women’s policy.

“There is so much overlap with child abuse prevention, so I’m grateful that I’ll be able to continue the work from that angle,” she said in the prepared statement.

Brunson said research about child abuse shows money and time should be spent on advocacy and engagement – efforts too expensive for Baton Rouge.

“...Funds for those activities are hard to come by. We’ve held it together all these years, but the model just isn’t sustainable.”

Prevent Child Abuse will dissolve on December 31, board president and chair Kris Cangelosi said in a letter Brunson shared in the email.

There are seven employees at Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana.  Brunson made $88,000 a year as the head of the advocacy group, according to public filings for the agency.  

The state maintains a hotline to report child abuse 24/7: 1-855-4LA-KIDS (1-855-452-5437).

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