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May 2009Vol. 10, No. 4New Child Care User Manual

Child care providers are in a unique position to recognize and report suspected child abuse and neglect, as well as to support prevention measures and good parenting practices. A new manual from the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN) within the Children's Bureau provides information and guidance to child care providers in preventing, recognizing, and reporting child abuse and neglect.

The Role of Professional Child Care Providers in Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect, by Kathy Karageorge and Rosemary Kendall, is written for early childhood professionals who practice in a variety of settings, including child care centers, Head Start programs, preschools, and family child care homes. The manual includes chapters on:

  • Recognizing maltreatment
  • Reporting suspected maltreatment
  • Minimizing the risk of maltreatment in child care programs
  • The role of family child care providers in prevention and response
  • Responding to allegations in child care programs
  • Caring for maltreated children
  • Supporting parents

This manual is part of OCAN's Child Abuse and Neglect User Manual Series published since the 1970s to provide guidance to a variety of professionals on identifying, preventing, and effectively responding to child maltreatment. The most recent edition of this series, which began in 2000, addresses new issues and significant changes that have occurred in the systems serving children and families.

To access the newest manual, visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway website:

www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/childcare

To view a list of all the titles in the User Manual series, go to: www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanual.cfm