Indicator 2.1: # of confirmed child abuse victims per year
Current Value
89
Definition
Line
Bar
Story Behind the Curve
What are the positive factors that are contributing to you reaching your desired result?
- School resumes: more interaction with mandated reporters, less stress on parents, more regular access to food
- Access to parent education through a variety of agencies
- Funding in the community for preventative programs
- More awareness about child abuse and neglect than in previous generations
What are the negative factors that are restricting you from reaching your desired result?
- Isolation: families living in rural areas, limited outside household interaction
- Children being home for extended period of time due to COVID, increase in parents' level
- % of families living in poverty
- Increase in number of families facing economic hardships (due to Covid)
- Low number of children in daycare pre-Covid and now even more so with Covid
What populations are the most disadvantaged and what causes these disparities?
- Families with limited access to daycare due to financial instability
- Non-citizens: hesitation to interact with law enforcement and/or attempt to obtain helpful resource such as parenting education or financial assistance
- Linguistic isolation-English is not their first language
- Families living in poverty
- Children identified as having special needs
- Single parent household: financial stress, potential inconsistencies in caregivers, increase in emotional stress
- Parents with limited educational skills
- Teen parents with limited support
Are there foreseeable factors that will affect your work over the next few months to a year?
- Due to Covid, the potential for more shutdowns, children being back at home for extended periods of time
- Increase in economic harship due to Covid
- Change in District Attorney with potential changes in how crimes are addressed and new policies implemented
- Decrease in giving to non-profits due to Covid and economic hardships
What additional research is needed to better understand the factors that influence the slope of the curve and related disparities?
- Census findings for 2020
- Monitoring annual poverty for the county
- Evaluating success of current prevention measures and identifying additional avenues for support
- Findings from Early Development Instrument
Partners
Who are the partners that can help you reach your desired outcome? List partners and their roles.
- Child Protective Services-more widespread collaboration with agencies
- Law enforcement
- School districts
- Child Advocacy Center and CASA
- Agencies providing parenting education: PCHAS, VOICE, Hope Center
- Medical professionals
- Headstart, daycare, ECI
What Works
Research/Evidence-Based Practices:
- Trust-Based Relational Intervention- TBRI- evidenced based parenting education
- In-home intervention programs
- Parent support groups-parent cafes-Growing Together
Low Cost/No Cost Solutions:
- Increase awareness/knowledge of abuse for children-marketing and social media
- Education for parents about what abuse is and additional positive disclipline strategies, flyers provided at school enrollment
- Increase education for community: set up trainings with teachers and parents
- De-stigmatizing (normalizing) parenting education-we all need support
- Providing education (flyers) at obligatory meetings for example at parent/child meetings
- Offering parent cafes (support groups) in schools
- Expanding service hours for families who work. Offering after hours visits and therapy.
Innovative/Out-the-Box Solutions:
- Highly incentivizing parenting education prior to having children
- Social media campaign on childrens' platforms, BrightByText
- Partner with hospital to identify incentives for parents such as financial assistance
- Invest in Spanish-speaking therapists and helping professionals to serve a broader community
- Help Me Grow: Centralized Access Point for child screenings and support connection
Additional Research:
- How do other counties destigmatize parenting education?
- How do other counties reach families before they reach a crisis point?
- What are the results of parenting support groups and their lowering caregiver stress?
Strategy
What Strategy | By Whom (Partners) | By When |
Public Health campaign: flyers, social media blitz for parents on positive discipline | School districts for distribution, DFPS information | Summer 2021 |
De-stigmatizing the need for parenting education | Coalition and other community partners | Ongoing |
Increase community trainings on abuse specifically for mandated reporters-teachers, daycare staff, etc. | CPS, Coalition. | January 2021 |