Child Abuse Prevention

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

Prevention Month Web site

April was designated Child Abuse Prevention Month by presidential proclamation in 1983. The observance raises awareness about child abuse prevention by educating individuals and communities about how they can help prevent abuse and neglect of children.

The US Department of Health and Human Services and the Human Services' Children's Bureau, Office of Child Abuse and Neglect worked with its Child Welfare Information Gateway to develop a community resource packet to promote child abuse prevention activities throughout the year. The resource packet includes information about promoting the five protective factors, tip sheets for parents, engaging your community including talking points and ways to pitch story ideas to the media, and how to report child maltreatment.

Practicing Safety

Practicing Safety, a project sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation works to decrease child abuse and neglect by expanding anticipatory guidance and increasing screening by pediatric practices to parents of children ages 0-3.

Practicing Safety focuses on expanding anticipatory guidance on seven "new morbidities" that, if discussed by the pediatric staff and implemented by the parent, can help to reduce child abuse and neglect. Currently there are nine practices participating in the project from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.