• Population-Based Prevention of Child Maltreatment: The U.S. Triple P System Population Trial
  This study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows when parents have access to proven parenting interventions designed to address problems all families face—from tantrums to encouraging good behavior — key measures of child maltreatment fall. Support for families enrolled in the study came through the Triple P—Positive Parenting Program. The program uses a multi-level, parenting, and family support strategy that aims to prevent behavioral, emotional and developmental problems in children by enhancing the knowledge, skills and confidence of parents. Triple P incorporates a wide range of support mechanisms for parents including local media, brief public seminars, and parent consultation by specially trained providers in clinics, schools, churches, and community centers. Researchers estimate for an area containing 100,000 children under age eight that the results found in the study could translate annually into 688 fewer cases of child maltreatment, 240 fewer out-of-home placements, and 60 fewer children with injuries requiring hospitalization or emergency room treatment.
  Click here for information on the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program.
  Click here for information on CDC’s prevention research in child maltreatment.
  
  

• The Role of Professional Child Care Providers in Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect
  The Role of Professional Child Care Providers in Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect is part of the Child Abuse and Neglect User Manual Series from the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect within the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The User Manual Series provides a foundation for understanding child maltreatment and the roles and responsibilities of child welfare practitioners in prevention, identification, investigation, assessment, and treatment. This manual explores the following responsibilities that are essential to child care providers: Recognizing physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological maltreatment, and neglect; Reporting child abuse and neglect; Minimizing the risk of maltreatment in child care programs; Preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect; Caring for maltreated children and children at risk for maltreatment; and, Supporting parents. The manual is part of the third edition of the User Manual Series, developed to reflect increased knowledge and the evolving state of practice. (2008)

• Parent Training Programs: Insight for Practitioners
  The United States Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury and Control recently published Parent Training Programs: Insight for Practitioners. Parent training programs are widely used to improve parenting practices and prevent child maltreatment. Although many programs have been evaluated for their effectiveness, the various components of the programs have rarely been examined. CDC behavioral scientists recently conducted a meta-analysis of the current research literature on parent training programs to identify components associated with more effective and less effective programs. This document summarizes the findings of this meta-analysis and provides practitioners who work with parents and families guidance in making evidence-based program decisions to improve parenting skills and prevent child maltreatment. (2009)
  

• Primary Prevention Programs for Child Maltreatment
  This paper by Naomi Weisel, PhD candidate at the Hunter College School of Social Work, discusses primary prevention, offers a literature review on risks associated with abuse and maltreatment, universal primary prevention programs, and targeted primary prevention programs, and explores implications for future research. (December 2009)
  

• Don’t Wait: Everyday Actions to Keep Kids Safe
  The most effective prevention happens before a child is harmed. Kids are immediately safer when parents and caregivers take the time to learn about sexual abuse and its warning signs. Parents and caregivers can play a crucial role in a child’s safety by making a commitment to speak up as soon as they have a concern, instead of waiting for certain evidence of harm. This tip sheet by Stop it Now! offers some things that families can do to protect children from sexual abuse.
  

• Strengthening Families and Communities: 2010 Resource Guide
  Developed for service providers, this free guide highlights strategies to strengthen families by promoting key protective factors that prevent child abuse and neglect. It also includes tip sheets in both English and Spanish to share with parents. The Resource Guide is produced annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention. The 2010 guide was developed with input from numerous national organizations, Federal partners, and parents committed to strengthening families and communities.

• Hard Times Made Harder: Struggling Caregivers and Child Neglect
  Analyzing data from a nationally representative sample of children with a report of child neglect, this study from the Carsey Institute finds that children whose caregivers struggle with drug abuse, mental health problems, alcohol abuse, or to pay for basic necessities were more likely to be placed in out-of-home care than families without such struggles, even after controlling for other risk factors. Their struggles suggest that intervention and prevention must not only integrate substance abuse and mental health services but must also address the needs and effects of long-term poverty, such as apathy, loss of hope, and indifference. The brief, which is authored by Wendy A. Walsh, recommends that government funding for child welfare be directed at more preventive programs that help combat poverty and provide family support services. (Fall 2010)
  

• Children’s Bureau Express (CBX): December 2010/January 2011 Edition
  This issue of CBX spotlights in-home services, which refer to all the services provided in the home and elsewhere that support families with children living at home. In-home services include early prevention services as well as post-reunification services. Read about the new National Resource Center for In-Home Services and about promising practices in in-home services.
  

• Hmong Cultural Guide: Building Capacity to Strengthen the Well-Being of Immigrant Families and Their Children: A Prevention Strategy
  This resource, from the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, provides an overview of the culture of the Hmong to assist professionals in strengthening the well-being of Hmong families. It reviews Hmong parenting practices, parent and child nurturing and attachment styles, expectations of child development, parental attitudes in seeking health care for their children, and parental attitudes toward emotional behavior and mental health.
  

Websites

• Child Welfare Information Gateway
• Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect
• National Child Abuse Prevention Month