April 2006Vol. 7, No. 3Prevention Through Partnering with Parents
A unique approach to preventing maltreatment of infants and toddlers capitalizes on the natural relationships between childcare providers and parents. Childcare providers are trained to provide support, guidance, and information to parents and to intervene effectively when risk factors for abuse and neglect are identified. The program, Partnering with Parents: Preventing Abuse and Neglect, provides training for trainers and a curriculum for use with early childhood educators, directors, and family childcare home providers.
The program’s curriculum consists of 10 modules focused on three major areas:
- Working effectively with very young children and their families
- Reducing the risk of child abuse and neglect
- The role of the program director
Developed by ZERO TO THREE in partnership with NACCRRA, the Nation’s Network of Child Care Resource and Referral, the program has been in use for over 2 years. To date, teams from 12 States have been trained. Teams have consisted of trainers who work with childcare resource and referral agencies, as well as experts in child abuse and neglect from the community. A recent training held at ZERO TO THREE’s Washington, DC, office trained 40 additional trainers.
Preliminary evaluation data have been collected through self-reports from 240 trainers and more than 2,700 childcare professionals trained by the trainers. These data indicate that trainers experienced an average knowledge gain of 26 percent in such areas as relationship-based training strategies, observation, flexible response, and the impact of abuse and neglect on infants and toddlers. Their trainees showed a 19–23 percent increase in knowledge.
The Preventing Abuse and Neglect: Parent-Teacher Partnerships in Child Care curriculum will be available from ZERO TO THREE this summer. For more information about the program and training of trainers, visit the website: