How and are we protecting our children?

Issue: Child Abuse and Neglect - No Family Left Behind: Where are the Families? Who are the Families?

The rate of reported and substantiated abuse, neglect and fatalities is not being reduced. All families identified at risk of abuse and neglect need a level of prevention service before an intervention is indicated.

Current Statistics and Problems:

Lack of a multi level comprehensive Abuse and Neglect Prevention approach to reach all families at risk of abuse and neglect.

# 1.

If 50% of all newborns screened meet the risk factors for eligibility for HFI and only 20% are offered or accept participation in the home visiting program, where are the other 30% of at risk infants?

# 2.

Are the abuse fatalities found in Hoosier families who met the risk factors but were not offered home visiting services?

# 3.

Does Indiana have a follow along process to track those 30% of at risk infants and families?

Prospective Solution:

Create unique identifiers for families screened and identified as at risk but not offered home visiting services. Place these families in a confidential and discrete file where outreach efforts could be systematically offered for purposes of breaking the problems of isolation and depression and the myriad of social issues faced by these families.

Creative Opportunity:

HFI, the home visiting service provider will partner with Prevent Child Abuse/The Villages, Inc., the education and outreach specialist and become a state of the art integrated multi level abuse and neglect prevention service model for the state and the nation.

How:

The integration of Prevent Child Abuse into The Villages, Inc. can serve as the vehicle to offer outreach opportunities to the 30% of infants and families.

· PCA has public awareness skills, networking experience and access to contacts in local communities.

· PCA has credibility in conducting workshops, preparing written materials, developing audio visual and information sessions for young families.

· PCA can offer in-service trainings to early childhood program providers. Workshops assisting child care providers in early identification and recognition.

· PCA can develop and facilitate the skillful approach to parents without shutting the child out of the program. This has been requested by providers for many years.

Prepared by Carole Stein, The Stein Group