Title: DCFS Board Charge to the Utah Child Abuse Prevention Task Force
1DCFS Board Charge to the Utah Child Abuse
Prevention Task Force
- David L. Corwin, MD
- Chair, Task Force Steering Committee
- Member, DCFS Board
- Medical Director, Primary Childrens Center for
Safe and Healthy Families - Professor and Chief, Child Protection and Family
Health Division - Pediatrics - University of Utah School of
Medicine
2Task Force Learning Objectives
- Review child abuse and neglect in Utah
- Review effects of child abuse and neglect
- juvenile delinquency
- adult criminality
- health and mental health problems
- other adverse outcomes
- Review effective child abuse prevention methods
and programs
3Task Force Learning Objectives
- Review most successful Childrens Trust Funds
- Review Utahs primary, secondary and tertiary
child abuse prevention programs - Review current funding for child abuse prevention
programs
4Task Force Recommendations
- Most promising approaches for improving child
abuse prevention in Utah - Improved integration and coordination of
prevention programs - Attention to cultural issues and competence
- Improve Utahs Childrens Trust Fund to better
assist child abuse prevention in Utah
5The Utah Child Abuse Prevention Task Force
Recommendations
6Vision
- We envision that throughout Utah
- All children are protected from preventable
harmful experiences that result from child abuse
or neglect. - All parents, especially new parents, are informed
on how to provide safe and healthy formative
years for their children. - All communities are responding with early
supportive services for successful parenting and
healthy childhood development. - Increased means are available to provide healthy
environments for children from resources once
spent on the results of child abuse and neglect. - For all children, it is great to be a child!
7The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Principles
- Preventing child abuse strengthens families
- All families want to raise safe, healthy,
successful children. - Helping parents succeed prevents child abuse.
- Prevention must be universal and voluntary.
- Prevention efforts must be effective and
- adapted to diverse cultural needs of Utah.
8The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Principles
- Prevention efforts must be collaborative all
community agencies and partners must be involved
in planning and implementation. - Prevention efforts must be public/private
partnerships.
9The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Findings
- Child abuse is a major public health problem.
- 7,829 case/ 10,932 child/adolescent victims in
2003 - 33.8 increase in cases from 2000 to 2003
- In 2002, 14.2 cases per 1,000 children
- (12.3 nationally)
10The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Findings
- Child Abuse is a major public health problem.
- Acute injury
- Chronic illness
- Disability
- Death
11The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Findings
- Child abuse is a major moral issue. Child abuse
is wrong. Prevention is right. - Children are precious, vulnerable and dependent
on adults. They deserve our best. - Our society is not safe until every child is
safe. - The safety and well being of children is
everyones moral responsibility.
12The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Findings
- Child abuse is a major social issue.
- Violence and criminality
- Social dysfunction
- Relationship problems
- Addiction
- Lost productivity
- Pain and suffering
- Intergenerational cycle of abuse
13The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Findings
- Child abuse is very expensive. We pay for its
harms with our tax dollars, insurance premiums,
lost productivity and reduced resources for other
important services like education. - 94 billion per year
- Preventing half of its child abuse cases could
save Utah hundreds of millions of dollars that
could help support education, health care and
transportation
14The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Findings
- Child abuse is preventable.
- Effective programs include
- Early childhood home visiting
- Parent education, family resource centers, the
Nurturing Program - Parenting older children and adolescents, e.g.
- Strengthening Families
15The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Findings
- Utah has many promising prevention programs
- Unfortunately, they have insufficient resources
to reach enough families to significantly reduce
child abuse in Utah. - Utah needs enhanced coordination across funding
streams and disciplines to reduce child abuse as
much as possible.
16The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Call To Action
- Citizens of Utah support all Utah families in
raising safe, healthy and successful children. - Agencies, institutions and businesses of Utah are
called upon to develop, implement and sustain
flexible approaches for helping parents and
families succeed. - Proven models
- Flexible to accommodate cultural, geographic and
socio-economic diversity of Utah
17The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Call To Action
- The Utah Legislature and Governor Huntsman are
called upon to facilitate increased funding of
child abuse prevention from public, foundation,
corporate and private sources by restructuring
the Utah Childrens Trust Fund to maximize it
flexibility and productivity.
18The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Call To Action
- Professionals and institutions that work with
children and families including schools, are
called upon to increase public and policy makers
awareness of the harms and costs of child abuse
as well as the benefits of preventing abuse.
19The Utah Healthy Families-Safe Kids Action Plan
- Call To Action
- You are called upon to promote safe and healthy
families, institutions and communities for all
people of Utah. - Inform yourself about child abuse and its
prevention. Invite speakers from the Child Abuse
Prevention Speakers Bureau to talk with your
church, civic or neighborhood organization. - Get to know and support the parents and families
in your neighborhood. Support community programs
and other efforts to help parents and families
succeed.
20We are all called upon to make a better, brighter
future for all children in Utah!
- Our Children Utahs Future