Family life can be difficult, but all of our keiki deserve to be in safe homes filled with love. The death of a child is unbearable and the injustice cannot be reconciled. When a child is murdered by a parent, it defies understanding in the collective heart of a community. How do surviving parents, siblings and ohana go on? What were the societal forces (if any) that played a role in this tragedy? How does the community know what to do to prevent such a horrible crime from occurring again?

As we head into and recognize Child Abuse Prevention Month (April), it’s important that we address the alarming local trends in family violence.

In 2020, Child and Family Services reported a 300% increase in calls to their crisis hotline, while the Domestic Violence Action Center experienced a 485% increase in client contacts. Confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect are also on the rise. The awful reality is that family violence is pervasive and impacts too many in our community, creating multigenerational trauma and burdening our systems with its complexity and costs.

Children living in homes where there is family violence are at greater risk for learning difficulties, attachment, sleeping and eating disorders, long-term adverse health effects, substance abuse, continued abuse as an adult or perpetrating harm against others. It must be our collective commitment to help families create safe and healthy homes where children can thrive.

Families that experience violence are often disconnected and isolated from community services. We believe that solutions to eliminate family violence exist within all sectors of our community, including business, health care, education, law enforcement, media and the arts.

According to the state’s Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Framework, a thoughtful public health response includes the following five pillars, that together, create the context for children and families to thrive:

Commitment: Leaders make child safety and well-being a top priority.

Supports and services: All families have equitable access to quality supports and services that empower them to create safe, stable, and nurturing families.

Communities: Families live in safe and supportive communities where they can thrive.

Policy: Laws, policies, and budgets support and are responsive to families.

Coordination: Systems and organizations collaborate and use data to provide a comprehensive continuum of prevention services.

Safe families are at the core of thriving schools, businesses and communities. With commitment, a clear vision and solid investments in island families, we can dramatically reduce family violence.

Together, we are part of a nonpartisan, statewide initiative focused on increasing investments in Hawaii’s youngest keiki and the well-being of their families, called Commit to Keiki. This initiative is multifaceted and focused on three priorities, including family violence prevention, early childhood mental health, and child care and early learning. Currently, we are engaging gubernatorial candidates by educating and encouraging them to prioritize these three priorities. Our future governor’s leadership is key to meeting the needs of our island families.

Preventing future tragedies is a kakou effort. Commit to Keiki’s recent voter poll shows that more than 8 in 10 voters (85.4%) think it is important for Hawaii’s next governor to prioritize programs that prevent family violence such as child abuse, neglect and intimate partner violence. And nearly three-quarters of Hawaii voters (74.5%) support creating a system of high-quality, publicly-funded, community-based child care, early learning and family support programs.

But there is no easy solution to prevent tragedies from occurring in the future. It will take a village and we all need to get involved to ensure that Hawaii’s next governor and other local leaders share this commitment. Our keiki and their future depend on us.

Kanoe Enos is with A‘ali‘i Alliance and Aloha at Home; Nanci Kreidman is with the Domestic Violence Action Center; Kerrie Urosevich is with the Early Childhood Action Strategy.