By Ryan Owens
Massachusetts legislators, social advocates and other locals came together on Tuesday April 14 at the Statehouse for the Children’s Trust Massachusetts “Step Up for Kids” annual event.
The gathering, which takes place every April, is intended to recognize Child Abuse Prevention Month, highlighted issues related to child abuse and neglect and honored state legislators with the Valuing Our Children Award, which recognizes work done in the name of helping children and families in Massachusetts.
State Representative Jay Livingstone, who serves Boston’s Back Bay, Fenway, Beacon Hill and West End neighborhoods, was one of the two awardees.
As he accepted his award, Livingstone reflected on his own work as House chair on the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities. He emphasized that helping families must be done with a long-term solution in mind.
“It’s important to remember that it’s not only about preventing harm, but also creating structures,” Livingstone said.
The other awardee was state Senator Jo Comerford, the Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education, which works to ensure rights and proper benefits to foster children by building programs to support youth in transition and grants for higher education. Comerford addressed a large crowd that had gathered at the bottom of the State House’s grand staircase, where a cluster of children’s shoes was sitting on the steps above her.
“I love that the Statehouse is rumbling today, and I feel you here,” Comerford said to the audience. “[This is] exactly where you need to be, because government can and should work in the best interest of everyone, especially our children.”
The 64 carefully placed pairs of shoes represented the 64 daily reported cases of child abuse or neglect in Massachusetts in 2025, the organizers of the event said. As Children’s Trust executive director Jennifer Valenzuela spoke to open the event, she requested that seven pairs of shoes be removed from the staircase to represent the average daily decrease in reported cases.
“This is seven fewer families that are experiencing child abuse or neglect, and It’s seven fewer children every single day that are having confirmed cases,” Valenzuela said as the shoes were removed behind her. “I’d love to be able to show no shoes someday.”
Some of those working directly with children and families also spoke, including Kara McElhone, executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hampshire County. She highlighted the Children’s Trust’s work, including child-centered intervention programs that discuss mature topics and peer-on-peer discussions that allow older students to help younger children understand and listen to key conversations.
Juanita Cox, a home visitor for Healthy Families Massachusetts, emphasized the importance of persistence in the work of helping children and families. She currently works with 12 families, each experiencing a range of issues from financial struggle to mental health woes.
“I keep calling in, I keep checking in, I keep trying,” Cox explained. “We do not give up on our families, and over time, that really makes a difference.”
The new secretary of education, Stephen Zrike, closed the event by reading a proclamation signed by Governor Maura Healey recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Massachusetts. Zrike, who took on the role in March after spending the last 13 years serving as superintendent to several schools in Massachusetts, used the chance to address his new constituents.
“In my new role, I look forward to partnering with you to listen, learn and act on what is needed to create the conditions to ensure that every child in Massachusetts, regardless of ZIP code, can realize their dreams,” Zrike said.
This story is part of a partnership between The Independent Newspaper Group and Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.