FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A new program aims to decrease child abuse in North Carolina with public service announcements on television.

Lynn Vick, director of Child Care Solutions, came up with the commercials. They wanted to target 18- to 24-year-old fathers, especially in Cumberland County, where child abuse death rates more than double the state average.

"A lot of people come in. They are out in 18 months. They don't get to know their neighbors. They haven't connected with a church. They haven't connected to any of our organization," Vick said. "We have the infrastructure in Fayetteville to help people, but it may take you a year to find out, 'Where do I go? Where do I get help.'"

The trick was creating a public service announcement young men relate to, so the group enlisted the help of a high school student to write it and people at a local church to act in it. Various organizations donated the money.

The group also created a public service announcement about the state's safe surrender law, where a person can drop off an unwanted baby to a health service provider.