Each Child. Every Community.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and to bring awareness to child abuse prevention, North Carolina organizations are lifting up prevention tools and spreading awareness of child abuse.

Prevent Child Abuse NC, an organization dedicated to making sure all communities have the knowledge, support and resources to prevent child abuse and neglect is carrying out a month-long campaign focused on preventing child abuse. This year’s theme is “Growing better together, we CAN prevent child abuse, North Carolina!”

This theme rings true, as federal, state, local, private, and nonprofit supports can all move the needle on preventing child abuse by working together.

The CDC’s Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: A Technical Package for Policy, Norm, and Programmatic Activities outlines five strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect. These strategies include

1. Strengthening economic supports to families,
2. Change social norms to support parents and positive parenting,
3. Provide quality care and education early in life,
4. Enhance parenting skills to promote healthy child development,
5. Intervene to lessen harms and prevent future risk

For each of these strategies, specific approaches are recommended. These approaches include but are not limited to family-friendly work policies, public engagement and education campaigns, improved quality of care through licensing and accreditation, early childhood home visitation, behavioral parent training programs, and enhanced primary care.

Working in Local Communities

In many North Carolina communities, Smart Start local partnerships are working alongside other community organizations to build out these strategies.

Programs like Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) are offered by local partnerships, providing strategies for parents to utilize. Other programs offered by Smart Start, such as the home visitation program, Family Connects, have been linked to less child abuse.

Smart Start has also focused on providing concrete supports to parents, linking parents with subsidies needed for child care or offering referrals to other resources.  Local partnerships also support NC Pre-K, administering NC Pre-K and serving on NC Pre-K Advisory Committees. This is especially important as high quality education and care prevents child maltreatment.

These many supports by local partnerships help children and families by protecting against child abuse.  As we move throughout April, consider connecting with your Smart Start local partnership to learn how it’s connecting with children, families, child care professionals, and even community partners to create change for children.