Child Maltreatment Prevention
Children and youth who have experienced abuse or neglect may face short- and long-term negative effects on their health and well-being. Subsequent removal from their homes and placement into foster care can also be traumatic and further exacerbate these negative effects. To prevent child maltreatment and possible entry into foster care, effective programs are needed to enhance families’ protective factors and address risk factors. Child Trends’ child welfare team works to meet these children and families’ needs by:
- Providing current state-level data on incidences of maltreatment to equip policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders to understand the scope of the issue
- Evaluating an array of child maltreatment prevention programs to build the evidence base
- Evaluating technical assistance programs for communities as they collaborate to prevent child maltreatment
- Exploring how states fund prevention services
