Child Abuse Prevention Fundamentals: Services to Children and Families
Who provides prevention services to children and families?
Health care providers, community organizations, social services
agencies, schools, and employers are becoming increasingly involved in the
well-being of children and families. The following sections describe how
these organizations are providing prevention services to strengthen and
support families.
Health Care Providers
Health care providers are in a unique position to assist in the
prevention of child maltreatment. These professionals have routine access
to children and families through well-child visits, immunizations, and
sick-child visits.
Activities that protect and promote the health of children and their
parents and also contribute to the prevention of child maltreatment
include:
- Prenatal and early childhood health care that improves pregnancy
outcomes and health among new mothers and young children
- Family-centered birthing and perinatal coaching that strengthens
early attachment between parents and their children
- Home health visitation that provides support, education, and
community linkages for new parents
- Support programs that assist parents of children with special health
and developmental problems.
Primary care providers emphasize the prevention of disease and the
promotion of health and well-being. With this foundation, they have a
natural role in the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
Community-Based Organizations
Many community organizations offer a wide range of services for children
and families. Boys and Girls Clubs, scouting troops, and local YMCA/YWCAs
provide social and recreational opportunities for children and families.
Community centers, food banks, emergency assistance programs, and shelters
offer various family support services to increase family resources and
decrease stress. Exchange Clubs, fraternal organizations, advocacy groups,
and ethnic, cultural, and religious organizations also support child
maltreatment prevention activities.
Specific examples of prevention activities found within community-based
organizations include:
- Self-help and mutual aid groups providing nonjudgmental support and
assistance to troubled families
- Natural support networks providing families with informal "helpers"
and community resources
- Child and respite care programs reducing the stress employed parents
experience, and providing positive modeling and contact for parents and
children.
To include an array of citizens and professionals in efforts to prevent
child abuse and neglect, many communities are mobilizing resources and
developing coalitions to direct prevention activities. By doing so, many
communities are identifying additional sources of support and are truly
making a difference in the lives of children and families.
Social Services Agencies
Increasingly, social service agencies and professionals are expanding
their focus to include programs that prevent family problems from
escalating into violence. Particularly effective social service
initiatives for strengthening families and preventing child maltreatment
include:
- Parent education services, which help parents to develop adequate
child-rearing knowledge and skills
- Parent aide programs, which provide supportive, one-on-one
relationships for parents
- Crisis and emergency services, which support parents and children at
times of exceptional stress or crisis
- Treatment for abused children, which prevents an intergenerational
repetition of family violence.
As State and local social service agencies examine new ways of "doing
business," many are pooling resources to provide more prevention
services.
Schools
With increased public and professional attention to the serious social
problems affecting children and adolescents, schools have become the focus
for many new prevention efforts including:
- Comprehensive, integrated prevention curricula to provide children
with the skills, knowledge, and information necessary to cope
successfully with the challenges of childhood and adolescence
- Policies eliminating corporal punishment
- Support programs for children with special needs to help reduce the
stress on families with a "special" or disabled child.
Schools are a natural resource for prevention activities. Most children
attend public or private schools; therefore, school-based prevention
activities reach the majority of American children.
Employers
As the number of parents working outside the home continues to grow, the
need increases for employment and workplace policies to enhance family
functioning and prevent child maltreatment. Family-focused initiatives for
the workplace include:
- Flexible work schedules and benefits that help families to balance
the demands of their work and parental commitments
- Parental leave policies that reduce stress on new parents and help
facilitate positive attachments between parents and their infants
- Employer-supported child care
- Family-oriented policies that support healthy and humane working
conditions and ensure adequate family income and equality in wages for
women.
- For all working parents, a supportive work environment can help ease
the stress of the dual responsibilities of work and family. For some
already-vulnerable parents, a supportive work climate may prevent family
dysfunction, breakdown, abuse, and neglect.
Preventing child abuse and neglect is everybody’s
responsibility.
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