NCJ Number
195372
Date Published
2000
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This paper presents an overview of child maltreatment in the State of Vermont and the programmatic approaches, strategies aimed at the prevention of child abuse and neglect, and characteristics of successful prevention programs.
Abstract
Produced by the Planning Division of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, this report presents an overview of the child abuse and neglect both nationally and in the State of Vermont. Research indicates that child abuse and neglect is growing in the United States, nearly doubling between 1986 and 1993. In Vermont, the data showed a different trend. Child maltreatment had declined in every year but three since 1985 overall and a 44 percent decline between 1985 and 1998. In preventing child abuse and neglect several approaches can be taken. One is to teach children how to recognize and avoid potential abuse situations and/or get help. Other approaches focus on parents and families in an attempt to improve parenting skills and access to services and supports for families. Lastly, another approach is focused on whole communities with community wide prevention efforts. Several prevention programs are identified in the paper as effective (demonstrating success in changing the targeted behaviors), promising (appear to be successful in changing behaviors), and noteworthy (demonstrated success in changing relevant attitudes and knowledge, but not the behaviors themselves). Effective programs presented included Hawaii’s Healthy Start and New York’s Nurse Home Visitation Program. Promising programs included: Tennessee’s Child Abuse Prevention (CAP), Arizona’s Healthy Families America, and Pennsylvania’s Parents Anonymous, Inc. Noteworthy programs included: nurturing programs, Project TRUST (child-focused curricula), and Sexual Abuse Free Environment for Teens (SAFE-T) Program. Common characteristics of successful child abuse and neglect prevention programs include: (1) collaboration; (2) community-based strategies; (3) comprehensive services and supports for families; (4) family-centered and family-respectful services; (5) culturally appropriate strategies; (6) flexible strategies; and (7) innovative strategies.