Prevent Child Abuse NC is an advocacy organization for children and families. They provide training and technical assistance to a broad range of professionals and work to heighten public awareness of child abuse and neglect and how to prevent child maltreatment.  Rosie Allen became the new President and CEO in February, 2008. 

What new directions do you see for Prevent Child Abuse NC?

It is a wonderful time to join the Prevent Child Abuse NC team!  Our organization will soon be celebrating 30 years of working to protect children, support families and build strong communities.  We have evolved from a very small committed group of child advocates to a professional team of staff, a dedicated board of directors and a network of approximately 300 community-based organizations.  We continue to be a key state partner in shaping public policies as well as promoting programs to prevent child abuse and neglect before it happens.  Within the last few years, a body of research on effective programs has confirmed the kinds of strategies that do indeed prevent child maltreatment.  So, programmatically, Prevent Child Abuse NC is strategically positioned to help agencies move towards implementing evidenced-based programs that work!    

On a more internal front, we must move our board leadership from one which is predominantly from the Triangle area to one that reflects the state.  Our board is eager to make this transformation happen because they know it is what we must do to ensure our work can positively impact every region in NC. 

What is your view on the Division of Social Services’ Multiple Response System? 

The Multiple Response System is a better way to serve and protect children and their families because it utilizes a more family-centered model of assessment. This approach is grounded in family centered principles which are strengths–based and view families as being partners in identifying and solving problems to provide safe and nurturing homes for children. 

In June, 2006 Duke University’s Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Center for Child and Family Policy conducted an evaluation that found MRS has not adversely affected the level of children’s safety nor has it significantly altered DSS’s initial response or decision-making time frames. MRS has not altered the length of time from reporting to the initiation of services and allows for better coordination and communication across agencies. Social workers’ perspectives were that MRS is more respectful to the families than the traditionally used approach and results in families being more open, less defensive and less resistant. Professionals also reported families were offered many needed services that they would not otherwise receive and that social workers and supervisors are allowed greater flexibility in decision making and service delivery.

The Duke evaluation supports that MRS is a good way to serve families that allegedly maltreat their children primarily because it gives families the opportunity to take charge of their family and to work with other professionals to meet their existing needs. 

What are the top evidenced-based prevention models that support families and are effective in preventing child abuse?

There are a number of evidenced-based prevention models.  The California Clearing House on Evidenced Based Child Welfare Practices is a good resource to identify and disseminate information regarding evidence-based practices relevant to child welfare. Guidance is provided in simple straightforward formats reducing the user's need to conduct literature searches, review extensive literature, or understand and critique research methodology. There are several top prevention models which are being implemented in NC including.     

• Nurse-Family Partnership (prenatal – age 2) is a comprehensive prenatal and early childhood home visitation program designed to improve maternal and child health and well-being.
• Strengthening Families Program (ages 6-14) is a family behavioral skills training program that seeks to improve family relationships.
• The Incredible Years (ages 2-12) is a set of comprehensive curricula for parents, teachers, and children designed to prevent delinquency, substance abuse, and violence.

Several very promising programs are also widely implemented throughout NC, including Circle of Parents, Nurturing Parenting Program, and Parents as Teachers.  Circle of Parents (prenatal – age 18) is a group-based program rooted in the principles of mutual self-help, family support, and shared leadership between parents and professionals. The Nurturing Parenting Programs (prenatal – age 5) are a group of home and group-based interventions designed to treat child maltreatment, prevent its recurrence, and build nurturing parenting skills.  Parents as Teachers (prenatal – age 5) is an early childhood parent education and family support program, designed to enhance child development and school achievement through home visits.  It is important for program implementers and funders to continuously review the results of all community-based prevention programs to determine effectiveness.

Prevent Child Abuse’ Report on New Directions for North Carolina argued that public campaigns called for a reframing of child abuse prevention messages.  Where do we stand on that issue?

We are working with the Frameworks Institute who has conducted communications research on how people think about children's issues in general, child development, and parenting.  This research indicates that the problems with pre-conceptions about parenting and child development lead to critical misunderstandings about other children's issues as well. Child abuse and neglect, and the healthy interventions that encourage positive parenting and healthy child development are examples where current notions must be examined and new perspectives promoted. One of the key conclusions from Frameworks research indicates that the words “child abuse” for the public brings to mind extreme physical harm which is committed in isolated incidences. 

The public is concerned about children but we must help everyone understand it is essential to move our attention beyond the crime of child abuse to supporting parent education and especially training for new parents.  Prevent Child Abuse NC is currently working with our statewide partners and Frameworks to study current information on public perceptions and how we can best work together in reframing such perceptions.  The next big step is to help local community-based organizations promote the real hope and results of prevention work.

What are the most important recommendations of the report NC still needs to implement to keep children safe?

Implementation of many of the recommendations is well under-way, but we need to remember that many of these recommendations are multi-year, complex recommendations that will require changes in practice, policy and in many cases, funding. There is still much work to be done.

The report outlines six areas that needed attention to improve child maltreatment prevention efforts in NC, but three deserve special mention.  First, we need to continue our work to support effective prevention practice in community-based agencies.  This means not only helping local communities choose programs that have been tested and proven effective, but helping those communities implement the programs successfully.  We know that effective practice requires more than just a good program, it requires qualified staff, ongoing training, organizational capacity to deliver the program, and ongoing quality assurance.  Our work to focus on these areas of practice with our community-based partners is critical and ongoing. 

Second is changing policy and funding to support effective practice.  When we understand the cost of child maltreatment to children, families and communities – not only emotionally and spiritually, but fiscally – we see that we cannot afford to not invest in prevention.  But that is exactly how our system works – we put the majority of our resources in addressing the problem after it happens, not trying to prevent it from occurring in the first place.  We need to change that.  Our state must invest resources into quality, effective prevention programs that have evidence of impact – programs like the Nurse-Family Partnership that have been shown through decades of research to measurably improve the health and well-being of children and their families and to be cost-effective.

Finally, we need to change the social norms of our communities and our nation to better support children and families.  This is an enormous task, but it is the foundation of our work to prevent child abuse.  A child abuse researcher once said that child maltreatment will decrease when it gets easier for parents to raise their children in our society.  Parenting is never going to be an easy job, but we as a society can make it easier for parents and communities to raise healthy children by ensuring they have a foundation of support for their families – health insurance, jobs that pay a living wage, workplaces that support parenting and are family-friendly, access to parenting resources, social support from neighbors and family, and safe communities where neighbors watch out for each others children.

Ultimately, children are our future leaders. We must invest in their development now by supporting parents, families and communities in raising healthy, successful adults.  That is how we – as a society – will prevent child maltreatment.