Capacity Building
Prevent Child Abuse NC (PCANC) builds the capacity of communities, agencies and professionals to prioritize child maltreatment prevention including implementation support services for specific Family Support Programs; building and sustaining networks of support for professionals; and providing training, developing curriculum and hosting conferences on child maltreatment prevention topics.
Supporting NC’s Parenting Education Programs
One way Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) nurtures positive childhoods is by supporting the agencies and professionals who offer parenting support programs. Effective implementation of these programs is crucial to ensuring they achieve intended results and have critical social, economic and public health implications for our state. Research shows that programs are most effective when providers receive regular, on-going support.
PCANC’s support benefits communities implementing these programs by:
- Helping agencies reach more families
- Helping practitioners make program material relevant
- Supporting alignment of programs with community needs
- Increasing practitioners’ confidence and competence in delivering programs
Over the past year, PCANC’s Prevention Programs Team supported 225 professionals from 51 agencies across North Carolina that implement Circle of Parents, The Incredible Years, the Strengthening Families Program, and Triple P Level 4 delivery.
Observation is a best practice that can encourage and support towards model fidelity. This year, PCANC started using video reviews as a part of its implementation support for parenting programs. For observation, providers across North Carolina sent PCANC a recording of themselves facilitating their parenting support program. PCANC’s Prevention Programs Specialists reviewed the video submissions and followed up with feedback to encourage growth in identified areas.
This year, PCANC’s Prevention Program Team reviewed 82 videos. After receiving feedback on initial video submissions, providers sent PCANC 30 follow-up videos to see how they had improved in identified areas. 100% of the providers who submitted a second video had improved on the identified skill at follow-up.
When we have faced challenges in program implementation the support we have received has been extremely helpful by giving us concrete and proven interventions and ideas.
– Parenting Program Professional
The support we receive is based on our actual needs, right now, and helps us move forward in working toward our local goals.
– Parenting Program Professional
[My Specialist], as always, has been able to help me, personally, work on goals and accomplish them. She has helped me work through things that have been in progress a long time and has been able to help shift focus when some unintended staffing issues came up. She has such a vast knowledge and is such a great resource.
– Parenting Program Professional
Prevention Action Network
Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina (PCANC) works to nurture positive childhoods and prioritize child maltreatment prevention across the state, but we can’t do it alone.
The Prevention Action Network (PAN) is an affiliation of individuals and agencies across North Carolina who are dedicated to ensuring that all children can have nurturing, positive childhoods and grow up to be thriving members of our communities. Organizations and individuals who join are invested in the primary prevention of child maltreatment and neglect by strengthening and supporting families in their communities. The PAN provides members with opportunities to get involved through training opportunities, exclusive webinars, newsletters and resources providing data, statistics and other relevant information about preventing maltreatment.
Over the past year, we served 496 PAN Members and held 11 PAN webinars with 368 attendees. The total average satisfaction rate for webinars was 4.8 out of 5.
It’s great to know that there is now a movement to incorporate POSITIVE experiences into the whole vital process of understanding the true impact of what we lived and what our kids are living during childhood.
– PAN Webinar Attendee
I like that this training talked about what ACEs is and PACEs and all in between, most trainings just look at one side.
– PAN Webinar Attendee
Now retired in Charlotte, I spent 33 years in the Criminal Justice systems of NY & Virginia as a Probation Officer/Supervisor, Magistrate & Lawyer…The problems highlighted in the webinar were very familiar to me & the solutions very interesting.
– PAN Webinar Attendee
Strengthening Families Protective Factors Regional Trainings
In FY21-22, PCANC’s Partnership Engagement Team trained 95 professionals in the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework. Participants consisted of individuals from local Division of Social Services (DSS) agencies, family resource centers, local health departments, early care and education, schools, and nonprofit agencies, among others.
Seven virtual trainings were offered between November 2021 and May 2022, one for each of the seven DSS regions. Throughout the Strengthening Families Protective Factors training, participants learned about Adverse Childhood Experiences and how different levels of trauma play into the developing brains and lives of children and families. The average training satisfaction rate was 4.7 out of 5.
The videos and worksheets went well with the information that was given. I am so glad that I attended the training. A wealth of information [to] share with my cohorts.
– Protective Factors Training Attendee
There were several activities that really made you think about connection and respecting differences in family cultures.
– Protective Factors Training Attendee
I found the interactive activities very useful. They reinforced the objectives of the training and are things that I can replicate with my coworkers and some of the families that I work with.
– Protective Factors Training Attendee
Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework
Free Online Trainings
Recognizing the signs of child maltreatment, knowing how to report suspicions of abuse or neglect, and understanding the upstream approach to prevention are crucial aspects to ensuring that all children grow up in safe, stable, nurturing environments.
That’s why PCANC proudly offers two self-guided online trainings that are available to the public at no charge. These trainings are made available thanks to funding from NC Department of Health and Human Services and generous contributions from supporters, like you.
Recognizing & Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment
This online training educates participants on the signs and symptoms of child maltreatment, what to do if you suspect maltreatment is occurring, NC’s reporting law, and what happens after a report is made. This training is now available in both English and Spanish, thanks to support from Governor’s Crime Commission – NC DPS.
In FY21-22, 32,019 individuals from all 100 NC counties completed the Recognizing & Responding to Suspicions of Child Maltreatment Course with a 99.9% passing rate.
What is Prevention? Training
This training is designed for professionals and volunteers working with children and families and anyone else who would like to learn more about how to prevent child abuse and neglect before it occurs. In the training, participants learn about child maltreatment prevention, the difference between prevention and intervention, are introduced to the concept of risk and protective factors and are familiarized with when and to whom prevention services should be offered.
Regional Community Prevention Action Plan
Over the past year and a half, PCANC supported the creation of the state’s first Community Prevention Action Plan (CPAP) involving three counties. Funded by Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, the Tri-County Regional CPAP spans Southeastern NC incorporating Bladen, Columbus and Robeson Counties and was completed in Fall 2021.
PCANC offers support to interested community members who want to build CPAPs. The CPAPs are based on the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework and are built by community members across all sectors. Building this specific CPAP was a tremendous effort that came with the task of not only collaborating across agencies and sectors to define and implement these strategies, but collaborating across all three counties.
In the next phase of this work, PCANC’s involvement in this work will move toward providing technical assistance to the regional coordinators and CPAP groups.
Over the next two years, PCANC will build the Tri-County CPAP groups’ knowledge, skills and capacity by offering support around public awareness and evaluation, and will also host Connections Matter trainings Protective Factors Trainings, and Community Cafes.
Partnership Engagement Manager Felisha McElvine, who leads the CPAP work, was recently name a BetterNC Fellow: read more.
Our Work in FY 2021-2022
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