This toolkit is designed to enhance the important partnership between child care providers and family service workers in the child welfare system, with the goal of ensuring that foster children get the best care possible. As the division directors of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS)/Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE), we know how important it is that we work together in the interests of the child. It is critical that child care providers understand the impact of abuse and neglect on children, the special role they can play in the lives of foster children and how they can partner with child welfare staff. It is equally important that child welfare staff understand the impact that experiences in child care have on children’s development and to partner with child care staff. Link to Toolkit
Tag Archives: child abuse
Quality Improvement Center for Early Childhood (QIC-EC) Learning Network Update
The goal of the QIC-EC Learning Network is to engage a broad and diverse group of professionals in dialogue and information exchange on key issues related to the prevention of child maltreatment. Participants have helped in shaping the Learning Network topics and by providing data via survey during the QIC-EC’s early years. Through the Learning Network, the QIC-EC disseminates cutting-edge information on policy, research, and practice, which influences and informs the work of the Learning Network members and their colleagues. Link to Update
The Nurturing Parenting Programs Comprehensive Review
2012, Family Development Resources: The Programs described are evidence-based parenting programs and curricula for the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. Order forms for materials for primary, secondary, tertiary and comprehensive prevention programs are presented. The Programs are evidence-based programs recognized by the National Registry of Evidence-based Parenting Programs and Practices (NREPP), a branch of Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Over thirty studies have been conducted validating the effectiveness of the Nurturing Parenting Programs. Today, there are over 25 Nurturing Parenting Programs designed to meet the specific cultural and developmental capabilities of families with materials available in English, Spanish, Creole, Arabic, Chinese, and Hmong. They are family-based programs that can be offered in a group setting, in a home visitation setting or in a combination group and home visitation settings. Link to pdf Review
See also: The Nurturing Parenting Programs Six Protective Factors
Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment
In 2008, the Children’s Bureau (CB) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded 17 grants with the goal of supporting the implementation of home visiting programs that may prevent child maltreatment. Grantees are to focus on supporting implementation of, scaling up, and sustaining home visiting programs with high fidelity to their evidence-based models. In addition, grantees contribute to the knowledge base about large-scale implementation with fidelity by conducting local implementation and outcome evaluations, along with analyses of program costs.
Summary of EBHV Program Models
| EBHV Program Model | Target Population | Expected Dosage | Expected Duration |
| Family Connections | Families with at least one child age 5 to 11; demonstrated risk for neglect | Minimum 1 hour face to-face per week | 3 to 6 months |
| Healthy Families America | Pregnant women or new parents within two weeks of infant’s birth | Scaled (from weekly to quarterly) | Until child’s fifth birthday |
| Nurse-Family Partnership | First-time pregnant women < 28 weeks gestation | Scaled (from weekly to quarterly) | Until child’s second birthday |
| Parents as Teachers | Birth or prenatal to age 5 | Minimum monthly home visit and group visit | Until enrollment in
kindergarten |
| SafeCare | Birth to age 5 | 1 to 2 hours per week | 18 to 20 weeks |
| Triple P | Birth to age 12 | Weekly | Varies by type of service (from 1 to 2 sessions to 8 to 11 sessions) |
Link to Supporting Evidence Based Home Visiting Web Site This web site contains many resources for evaluating and comparing various programs. It also contains links to resources for each of the programs. However, the primary focus is on implementation and evaluation from a program director’s perspective.
The Criminal Justice Response to Child Abuse: Lessons Learned and Future Directions for Research and Practice [Presentation Slides].
2012, Children and Family Research Center.
Importance of research
• Criminal justice response to child maltreatment is important but complex and not well-understood
• Need data to understand it and inform policy
• However, development of policy and practice has not been data driven
• This presentation reviews a wide range of data relevant to policy and practice
• Most knowledge and discussion based on sensational cases that may not be representative