April 2013Vol. 14, No. 3April Is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, an opportunity to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect and promote activities aimed at protecting children and supporting families. This year's Prevention Month activities continue to reflect the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect's (OCAN's) June 2011 conference theme, Preventing Child Maltreatment and Promoting Well-Being: Network for Action.

The annual observation of Prevention Month includes the release of an updated resource guide, with the latest research, practices, and information centered on prevention. Preventing Child Maltreatment and Promoting Well-Being: A Network for Action: 2013 Resource Guide continues to include the six protective factors that can help families safeguard children from the risk of abuse. The six protective factors include:

Nurturing and attachment
Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development
Parental resilience
Social connections
Concrete supports for parents
Social and emotional competence of children

In addition to tools and strategies for integrating the protective factors into everyday child and family services, the guide also includes 14 tip sheets for parents. The tip sheets, available in both English and Spanish, cover topics that range from "10 Ways to Be a Better Dad" and "Connecting With Your Teen" to "Dealing With Temper Tantrums."

The 2013 Resource Guide has been refreshed with new information, while maintaining some of its main content structure.

Chapter One, "Laying the Groundwork," contains information on a framework for understanding child well-being and the Protective Factor Framework.
The "Levers for Change" section was updated to include new examples from Network for Action's Strategic Projects.
Chapter Four, "Protecting Children," contains new statistics from the Child Maltreatment 2011 Report and new information on working with parents who have a history of trauma.
The three new tip sheets are "Managing Stress," "Managing Your Finances," and "Helping Your Child Heal From Trauma."
Three new activity calendars provide suggestions for different ways to use the six protective factors. The calendar, "30 Ways to Promote Child Well-Being During National Child Abuse Prevention Month," provides activities to support children and families throughout an entire month.

The resource guide is the result of collaboration among the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Children's Bureau, OCAN, Child Welfare Information Gateway, the FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, and numerous national organizations.

To view or order a copy of the resource guide, please visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway website:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/preventionmonth/guide2013/

Child Welfare Information Gateway updated its Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect web section to reflect the new material in the guide and more. The title of the Prevention section on Strengthening Families was changed to Promoting Child & Family Well-Being to indicate this new focus. The updated section offers new pages on the following topics:

Visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage to access these tools and materials:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/