Preventing Child Maltreatment: New Directions for North Carolina

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Preventing Child Maltreatment New Directions
for North Carolina
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State-Wide Task Force

• In 2003, PCA North Carolina launched the Gaining
  Ground Initiative.
• Funded by the Duke Endowment
• Multi-year effort to identify and implement
  statewide strategies to reduce child maltreatment
  
• A critical piece of Gaining Ground was the
  development of a statewide task force.
• Co-convened by the NC Institute of Medicine and
  PCA North Carolina
• Co-chaired by Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom and
  Dr. Marian Earls
• 51 members representing state agencies,
  legislators, health professionals, family service
  providers, the faith community, educators, and
  business community

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Task Force Goals

• Develop statewide plan focused on preventing
  maltreatment before it occurs
• Develop a common vision and direction for NC
  prevention efforts
• Increase the capacity of local communities for
  effective practice increase and target funding
  coordinate programmatic direction and priorities
  by aligning state systems
• Encourage all agencies and providers
  participating in prevention efforts to move in
  the same direction at state and local level

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Task Force Accomplishments

• Development of a vision for children, families,
  and communities
• Community support of parenting and families
• Development of a set of principles to guide child
  maltreatment prevention system in NC as it
  develops
• Principles can be adopted at the local level to
  help guide prevention services in communities
• 37 recommendations targeting child maltreatment
  prevention efforts in the state
• Most targeted at state agencies
• implications for funding and programmatic
  direction at the local level

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Principles for Prevention

• Start early pregnancy and the early years of
  life and focus resources on these developmental
  periods.
• Build prevention services intentionally,
  developmentally
• Provide universal support for all families, not
  just families in crisis or at-risk.
• Systems need to work together shared planning,
  outcomes, funding, training, and evaluation
• Role for informal and community supports
• E.g., faith communities, workplaces, neighborhood
  centers, childcare centers
• particularly in developing a system of support
  for all families
• Parent involvement at all stages of prevention
  planning
• Use evidence-based programs and promising
  practices whenever possible.

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Recommendations

• Guided by these principles, the Task Force
  developed 37 recommendations focused on six issue
  areas
• Establish state-level, public leadership for
  child abuse prevention
• Establish comprehensive data monitoring system to
  measure incidence of child maltreatment
• Change social norms through public health
  awareness and education strategies

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Recommendations

• Increase the use of evidence-based and promising
  child abuse prevention and family strengthening
  programs in North Carolina.
• Infuse child maltreatment prevention strategies
  into the practice of professionals already
  working with families and children (e.g.,
  childcare providers, pediatricians, public health
  nurses).
• Ensure sufficient funding for child maltreatment
  prevention by
• increasing revenue to the NC Childrens Trust
  Fund
• increasing funding for child abuse prevention
  programs

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Importance of Task Force

• First time comprehensive focus on primary
  prevention of child maltreatment.
• Establishment of state-level leadership for
  primary prevention for first time in states
  history. Energy, attention, resources will be
  directed toward prevention.
• Focus on evidence-based practice will impact
  programmatic and funding priorities at state and
  local levels.
• New public awareness messages focused on
  universal support for parenting and parents.

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Next Steps for Task Force Plan

• Educate the public
• Child Maltreatment Prevention Leadership Team
  Convened in January 2006
• Oversee recommendations, implementation
• Prioritize recommendations
• Implement recommendations through workgroups
• Staff person hired to support this work
• Return in two years to report progress to larger
  Task Force.
• Leadership Team and Prevent Child Abuse NC to
  consider how to support local efforts to
  incorporate principles of prevention in community
  systems.

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Workgroup Example

• Enhancing the effectiveness of Family Resource
  Centers in NC
• Task force plan recommended that community-based
  FRCs offer or link to evidence-based and
  promising prevention programs (Rec. 7.6)
• FRCs are strategy to prevent child maltreatment,
  but little attention given to the outcomes of
  programming
• Smart Start and Department of Social Services are
  the main funding sources for FRCs in NC

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Opportunity

• DSS, Smart Start expressed interest in examining
  ways to enhance FRC Model through
• Increasing evidence-based practice
• Focusing more clearly on strengthening family
  functioning, relationships to prevent child abuse
  and increase school readiness
• Evidence-based workgroup
• Team of experts regarding evidence-based practice
• Enhancing FRC Effectiveness was their first
  project

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What do FRCs look like in NC?

• A report has been written that includes
• Analysis of state and federal policy that funds
  FRCs
• Assess current FRC services, programming
• Staff, organizational capacity of FRCs
• Perspectives from Family Resource Center staff

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Next area of Focus Outcomes

• Another work group focusing on shared outcomes or
  common outcomes has been convened.

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For More Information

• The Task Force Final Report can be accessed on
  Prevent Child Abuse North Carolinas website at
• www.preventchildabusenc.org
• 1-800-CHILDREN
• Child Maltreatment Prevention Leadership Team
  Coordinator (NC Division of Public Health)
• Megan Scull Williams, MSW, MSPH
• Contact Info megan.williams_at_ncmail.net
• [phone]