Department of Human Services encourages community to help prevent child abuse during month of April and last updated 2021-04-07 17:55:16-04 BAKERSFIELD, Calif â The Kern County Department of Human Services is shining a spotlight on the importance of keeping our children safe. It's a year-round mission, but the month of April is specifically dedicated to raising awareness about child abuse prevention and reminding the community of signs we all should be paying attention to. âAbuse and neglect are both widespread and too often invisible and I think that people are too often afraid to report things when they see them,â Jana Slagle with the Kern County Department of Human Services said.