Innovations in the Field of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention: A Review of the Literature

ii Acknowledgments I would like to thank all of the experts I interviewed during the process of writing this paper. Their deep understanding of the history and visions for the future of child maltreatment prevention provided a strong foundation for this work and guided the direction and structure of the project overall. I am grateful for how generous they were with their time and wisdom. The names and affiliations of all the professionals that participated in an interview are listed in Appendix A. Additionally, I would like to thank my mentor, Dr. Deborah Daro. She is a creative and sophisticated thinker, an eloquent and articulate writer, and a passionate and inspiring leader moving child abuse and neglect prevention efforts forward. Lastly, I would like to thank Anne Clary and Matthew Brenner for lending their editing expertise, and the greater Chapin Hall community for their support. Trend #2: Social context and culture can protect the developing child and strengthen parental capacity in important ways that can buffer against individual and contextual risk factors.. Trend #6: Implementation science offers program managers effective research frameworks to monitor and strengthen the service delivery process and to improve the odds of replicating model programs with fidelity and quality.. Trend #7: Maximizing population-level change requires new understanding of how to construct and sustain effective state systems, local community collaboration, and robust community-based Trend #8: New technologies offer important, cost-effective opportunities for advancing our reach into new populations and supporting direct service providers.. 1 Introduction Child maltreatment prevention policy and practice have been driven by a continuous stream of innovation generated by researchers, advocates, and practitioners working across disciplines to improve child safety and well-being. Settlement homes were established in the late 19 th century, social work was professionalized in the early 20 th century, child abuse injuries were identified and findings published by pediatric radiologist John Caffey and pediatrician Henry Kempe in the 1960s, and the federal government passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1972. Progress in the field has always been determined by the diligence of thought leaders in a multitude of professions and the collaboration of diverse and unlikely partners (Myers, 2011, p. 1166). Today, the nation faces an excruciating economic climate, and many parents find it hard to meet their children's most basic needs. Simultaneously, political pressure is mounting to cut social services and reduce government spending, and, as a …