Child abuse and neglect shatters lives, stunts development, causes lasting mental health problems and prevents children from growing to their potential at school and at home.
The answer is not simply to remove children from their families and place them in foster care. The trauma children suffer from being removed from their families causes can also cause lasting damage.
Child abuse and neglect can be prevented.
Most parents want what is best for their children. Poverty, depression and a family history of violence are a few of the difficulties which overwhelm some parents and lead to abuse and neglect.
“[I]f we are an effective system, our resources will be freed [to focus on] front end prevention so that we don’t have to be a tertiary intervention [in which] kids are already injured by the time they come to our system.”
– Dr. Roque Gerald, Director of DC’s Child and Family Services Agency.
Fighting Poverty Reduces Child Abuse and Neglect
- Multiple studies show that increasing public benefits provided through the Temporary Aid to Needy Families program decreases the frequency of child abuse and neglect significantly.
- In Washington, DC, the Grandparent Caregivers Program provides essential assistance to poor children living with grandparents and other relatives.
Pre-School Programs Can Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect
- High-quality pre-school programs that also provide services and supports to parents are proven to protect children from abuse and neglect over the long-run.
Programs Targeted at High Risk Families Reduces Child Abuse and Neglect
- Identifying and addressing problems early makes a difference. Home visiting programs send professionals to visit pregnant women and new parents to help them learn the parenting skills they need to keep their family safely together.
- Substance abuse by parents affects thousands of children in DC and often contributes to child abuse and neglect. Effective substance abuse programs, especially residential programs that let young children stay with their parents can help keep families together.
- Mental health treatment. Mental health problems among both adults and children are the underlying causes of many abuse and neglect incidents. Certain specialized mental health services, such as parent-child interaction therapy and functional family therapy are proven to help parents manage children’s most difficult behaviors without resorting to abuse or neglect.
- Inadequate housing is often one factor placing a child at risk. In other situations, families need to find new housing quickly to flee domestic violence. The District has two small but important programs specifically designed to help:
- Rapid Housing helps families overcome a housing crisis that would otherwise lead to the child’s removal from the home.
- Family Unification Program provides vouchers – like Housing Choice or section 8 vouchers – to help families afford safe housing.
Child abuse and neglect not only hurts children – it is expensive. Many abuse and neglect programs have been proven to save money. For instance, home visiting programs for parents of high risk young children cut abuse and neglect nearly in half and save $5.70 for every dollar spent.
DC can protect children – and save taxpayers’ money – by shifting its focus to preventing child abuse and neglect.
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