Child Abuse and Child Abuse Prevention

What is Child Abuse and Child Abuse Prevention?

In the United States, it is estimated that 25-50% of adults experienced physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse as children. A much smaller percentage of these children actually come in contact with government agencies charged with protecting the safety of children. Programs designed to prevent child abuse by addressing such key risk factors as poverty, substance abuse, and poor parenting skills have been widely implemented. The RAND Promising Practices network identifies two, the Nurse-Family Partnership Program, and Healthy Families America, as having significant potential to reduce risk factors associated with child maltreatment.

NPC Research and Child Abuse and Child Abuse Prevention

Staff at NPC Research bring a wealth of experience in program and policy analysis in the area of child welfare and child abuse prevention. In 1999, funding was awarded to NPC Research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct a comprehensive mixed-methods evaluation of the impact of the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) on parents with substance abuse problems whose children were placed in foster care. This federal legislation mandated shorter timelines for parents to comply with service requirements including attaining sobriety, and there was widespread concern that substance-abusing parents would be significantly effected by the legislation. Other child welfare-related projects include the Healthy Families Oregon Evaluation and the completed CSAT-funded national evaluation of Family Treatment Drug Courts.