April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month
Since 1983, April has been designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The theme for this year is “Making Meaningful Connections,” not only with children and youth but also with families and communities. When we make meaningful connections with children and youth, we provide them with a sense of safety, security, and well-being. When we make meaningful connections with parents, we give them the support they need to raise happy and healthy children. And when we make meaningful connections with families and communities as a whole, we promote overall family well-being and strengthen our communities, both of which are effective means of preventing child abuse.
Furthermore, meaningful connections with parents and families also increases caregiver use of the six protective factors:
- Nurturing and attachment
- Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development
- Parental resilience
- Social connections
- Concrete supports for parents
- Social and emotional developmental well-being
The Children’s Bureau has several strategies for getting involved in strengthening families and communities. Getting involved can be as simple as meeting and greeting your neighbors, and as complex as organizing a community event such as a block party or a parent support group. You can also download The 2014 Prevention Resource Guide: Making Meaningful Connections.
CAPTA Anniversary
This year is also the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s signing of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). CAPTA was the first national response to the issue of child maltreatment. It provided funding to states for prevention, identification, and treatment programs to address child maltreatment. It was most recently reauthorized in 2010, along with the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978, and the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988 (see this Information Memorandum from the Children’s Bureau for more).
Making Meaningful Connections with Child Welfare
Dr. Oliver Williams, Executive Director of the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community (IDVAAC) at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, considers the possibility of the child welfare system itself making meaningful connections with communities:
