Children's Safety Network

CSN Discuss Bulletin:

Child Abuse Prevention

April 2004

This bulletin comes to you from the Children's Safety Network through the CSNDISCUSS list, an electronic forum for the discussion of child and adolescent injury and violence prevention and related issues.

A Question from CSN

AVAILABILITY

Copies of many items can be delivered to state Maternal and Child Health and state public health staff upon request. Articles available by e-mail are so indicated. Some other articles can be faxed or mailed. To request an article or other publication, e-mail jhudson@edc.org with the item name, delivery preference (e-mail, fax number, or mailing address). This service is restricted to state Maternal and Child Health and state public health staff. Restricted time and resources forbids us from delivering articles to others.

URLs of publications that can be downloaded from the web are included in the bibliographic information.

A QUESTION FROM CSN

In its Maternal and Child Health Title V Block Grant narrative, the state of Louisiana notes that it has worked with the Louisiana chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America in several ways, including through involvement with the chapter's media campaign, and through support of the Health Families America home visitation program, which is associated with Prevent Child Abuse America . We're interested in knowing if you have worked with your state or local Prevent Child Abuse America chapter. What is/was the nature of your involvement?

Responses will be summarized and posted to the CSN website.

Please respond to Erin Lyons at elyons@edc.org

NEWS AND DEVELOPMENTS

Prevent Child Abuse America Annual Conference: Spreading the Magic of Prevention

Prevent Child Abuse America is a national organization dedicated to educating professionals and the public about the problem of child abuse. A network of state and local chapters advocates for policies and takes action to prevent child abuse. Prevent Child Abuse America will hold its annual conference from May 16-19, 2004 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando , Florida . The conference will feature researchers and practitioners in child abuse prevention and is targeted at members of state and local Prevent Child Abuse America chapters, as well as health and education professionals who are interested in child abuse prevention. For more information, visit Prevent Child Abuse America 's website at www.preventchildabuse.org
Children's Bureau Express Online Digest

The Children's Bureau Express is a monthly digest for professionals interested in child abuse and neglect and child welfare and adoption issues. The digest provides information on research studies, promising practices, publications, trainings, funding sources, and conferences. To read this monthly report, visit nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/ and click on Children's Bureau Express Online Digest link, located in the General Resources box.
New Resources from National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information

Be sure to visit the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information (nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/) for a variety of new and informative resources, including:
- A Toolkit for Developing and Sustaining Prevention Programs in Tough Times
- A link to the new General Accounting Office report, titled "Child Welfare: Improved Federal Oversight Could Assist States in Overcoming Key Challenges."
- An updated version of the publication "What is Child Abuse and Neglect."
The Clearinghouse, which was established in 1974 as part of the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, houses a variety of informative resources and materials on all aspects of child maltreatment, from prevention to foster care placement and adoption. Its mission is "to connect professionals and concerned citizens to timely and well-balanced information on programs, research, legislation, and statistics regarding the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families."

ARTICLES AND REPORTS

Edleson JL, Daro D, Pinderhughes H. (Eds). Finding a Common Agenda for Preventing Child Maltreatment, Youth Violence, and Domestic Violence. [Special issue]. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2004 March; 19(3): 279-367. The March, 2004 edition of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence contains a series of articles about the co-occurrence of child maltreatment, domestic violence, and youth violence. The articles, which resulted from a series of meetings among practitioners, researchers and policy makers, explore how these three issues are connected and present strategies for better crafting policies and programs in light of these connections.

This issue of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence can be purchased from Sage Publications for $20 individual or $73 institutional. Contact Sage at journals@sagepub.com or 1-800-818-7243.
Walsh C, MacMillan HL, Jamieson E. The relationship between parental substance abuse and child maltreatment: Findings from the Ontario Health Supplement. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2003 December; 27(12):1409-25.

This study surveyed a large number of adults in Canada and asked them about their childhood experiences of physical or sexual abuse as well as their parents' abuse of substances. The study found that there was a connection between experiencing abuse as a child and having parents who abused substances during one's childhood, The risk of being abused as a child was nearly twice as high for children who's parents abused substances, compared with those whose parents did not.

Availability: Hard copy only.
Osofsky JD. Prevalence of children's exposure to domestic violence and child maltreatment: Implications for prevention and intervention. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. 2003 September; 6(3): 161-170. It is estimated that millions of children in the United States witness domestic violence in their homes every year. Even if a child is not physically harmed during an incident of domestic violence, the child may be emotionally and developmentally scarred, which can have serious implications as the child grows. This article reviews the literature on this subject in order to better understand and articulate the nature and seriousness of the problem.

Availability: e-mail or hard copy.
Duggan A, Fuddy L, McFarlane E, Burrell L, Windham A, Higman S, Sia C. Evaluating a statewide home visiting program to prevent child abuse in at-risk families of newborns: Fathers' participation and outcomes. Child Maltreatment. 2004 February; 9(1): 3-17. Home visitations by health or social service professionals is a strategy for child abuse prevention that has received a great deal of scrutiny. Although home visiting programs are quite prevalent in communities throughout the country, little evidence exists to show that these programs actually achieve the desired outcomes. This study examined the impact of home visitation on over 600 fathers whose families participated in a home visiting program for 3 years or more. The goal was to assess whether home visits improved the fathers' parenting skills and attachment to their children, and whether the visits increased the father's likelihood of assuming additional parenting responsibilities. The authors' conclude that home visitation did not positively affect the fathers in this study. However, the authors suspect that this result reflect the characteristics of the fathers in this study, rather than the strategy of home visitation itself.

Availability: e-mail or hard copy.
Keenan HT, Runyan DK, Marshall SW, Nocera MA, Merten DF, Sinal SH. A population-based study of inflicted traumatic brain injury in young children. Journal of the American Medical Association 2003 August 6; 290(5): 621-6. The goal of this study was to assess the number and characteristics of children under the age of 2 who suffer traumatic brain injuries due to intentional abuse. The study found that the majority of children who were hospitalized with traumatic brain injuries were injured intentionally, and that infant boys were more likely than infant girls to suffer traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to physical abuse. In addition, the study found that several maternal characteristics also affected a child's likelihood of experiencing TBI from child abuse, including young maternal age. The characteristics are similar to risk factors identified in other child abuse studies.

Availability: e-mail or hard copy.
Hahn RA, Bilukha OO, Crosby A, Fullilove MT, Liberman A, Moscicki EK, Snyder S, Tuma F, Schofield A, Corso PS, Briss P; Task Force on Community Preventive Services. First reports for evaluating the effectiveness of strategies for preventing violence: Early childhood home visitation. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: Recommendations and Reports. 2003 Oct 3; 52(RR-14): 1-9.

The Task Force for Community Preventive Services undertook a comprehensive analysis of existing studies of early childhood home visitation programs and found the evidence suggests that early childhood home visitation programs are effective in preventing child maltreatment. However, home visitation programs have not been effectively evaluated in their abilities to prevent other forms of violence, including intimate partner violence.

The entire report is available online at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5214a1.htm

CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION RESOURCE FROM CSN

Cost of Child Abuse and Neglect in the U.S. States.

This web-based resource includes tables and charts—by state and region—on the costs of child abuse-related injuries. The following resource is available from the Children's Safety Network's Economics and Data Analysis Resource Center (EDARC) at: www.edarc.org/pubs/can/can-menu.htm

Please direct questions about this bulletin to Erin Lyons at:

Children's Safety Network

Education Development Center

1000 Potomac Street, NW Suite 350

Washington, DC 20007

Ph: 202-572-3732

Fax: 202-298-6038

E-mail: elyons@edc.org