2022 Annual State Summary of Exemplary Practices
The Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) program provides federal funding to all 50 States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The funds are for the implementation of community-based and prevention-focused programs and activities designed to strengthen and support families to prevent child abuse and neglect.
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This summary highlights child abuse prevention activities and services implemented during the 2022 funding year for CBCAP State Lead Agencies. To learn more about the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) that guides the program, click here to download the legislation. The CAPTA law emphasizes support for community-based efforts, the importance of identifying parent leaders, and strongly encourages collaborative efforts in building partnerships.
Federal Fiscal Year 2022 offered many states the opportunity to expand prevention programs and offer concrete supports to families through the American Rescue Plan Act. From the 2022 Needs Assessment sent to all CBCAP Leads, FRIENDS learned that of those responding the majority are using the ARPA funding to provide supports to underserved communities and concrete supports to families, expand Family Resources Centers, and develop public awareness of the prevention message.
The information shared below provides a snapshot of services provided throughout the country for specific target populations and specific state examples of work on Partnerships to Create Prevention Focused System, Training and Technical Assistance for the Prevention Community, Economic and Concrete Supports to Families, and Parent Support Programs.
Click this button to view Data Profiles of each state and the nation compiled utilizing the Annual CBCAP State Reports.
Partnerships to Create Prevention Focused Systems
Two states offer examples of partnerships that integrate existing services and funding to address unmet needs of children and families by improving collaboration and coordination between partners.
The Idaho Children’s Trust Fund (ICTF) participates in the Community Schools Collaborative both as a funding partner and helping to shape the statewide effort to create a network of school-based family resources. Using CBCAP/ARPA dollars, ICTF joined with a group of funders including Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation, two United Ways, a hospital foundation, and the State Department of Education to support development of new Community Schools. The community schools initiative that started in the more urban southwestern corner of the state now has sites distributed throughout Idaho. This is a major effort to transform the role of the school to support families with concrete supports, parenting skills training, and peer support. The intention behind this collaboration is to provide services and a place to receive services in a non-stigmatizing way so that families will get the support they need when they need it.
The Promotion and Prevention unit within the Minnesota Department of Human Services is the lead for the Thriving Families, Safer Children (TFSC) initiative in Minnesota, a round two jurisdiction of the national Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative. Minnesota is focusing on efforts to narrow the front door of the child protection system by moving upstream to identify and appropriately serve families that do not need protection, but rather are suffering the effects of racism and poverty. The TFSC work group is comprised of community, county, tribal, interagency, and national partners. The current working goal of this group is to “define and advance policy and practice changes that reduce unnecessary involvement of Black, Indigenous, and children and families of color in the child protection system and instead equitably connect families to services and supports that will more appropriately promote child and family well-being.” The TFSC work group engaged in efforts to examine child maltreatment data, and intersections between racism, poverty, and neglect reporting in Minnesota and found that there is a relationship between poverty and child maltreatment reporting for neglect. Additionally, the work group explored the need to revise or improve statutory definitions, guidance, and practice regarding mandated reporting and screening of maltreatment reports, especially those with allegations of neglect, to ensure the system is clearly differentiating maltreatment from poverty and families receive economic and concrete resources in community to promote family well-being.
Training and Technical Assistance
Five states offer examples of their support, training, and technical assistance to their community-based, prevention-focused providers to strengthen the prevention workforce.
The Hawaii Department of Health sponsored or co-sponsored seven major trainings during the fiscal year 2022. The training, Contextualizing Maternal Health in Hawaii: Historical, Cultural and Social Determinants of Health for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, addressed the historical, cultural, and social determinants of health for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPIs). The recorded training provided important context to the maternal health disparities that many of our public health and other health professionals observe in their work. The training discussed the historical influences that have contributed to deep rooted social inequities, discrimination, and biases that impact the health and well-being of NHPIs today. Finally, the speakers shared recommendations for advancing health equity for these communities at the individual, program, institutional, and policy levels.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, CBCAP funded programs support Prevent Child Abuse Illinois, crisis nurseries, parenting programs, coalitions, trainings, and other family support programs at the community level. A new service offered to coalition communities is "Dad Talks." These talks are modeled after the highly effective TED talk, which limits the presentation to 18 minutes or less. The goal is to address issues relevant to fathers in an engaging and brief presentation. The first Dad talk was held in September 2022 about "How the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" can be applied to fatherhood. These Dad Talks are offered virtually, recorded, and placed on YouTube.
Recognizing the value and importance of parental input, Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Division of Prevention and Community Well-Being is collaborating with Kentucky Partnership for Families and Children, Inc. to provide a leadership academy for parents statewide. The Community Collaboration for Children (CCC) Parent Core Team consists of the parent leader, parent consultant, statewide CCC parent officers, and CCC technical assistance staff. This group meets prior to statewide parent meetings to prepare and develop an agenda based on previous statewide meeting evaluations. The group discusses training needs and addresses parent concerns identified via in-home services, regional networks, and statewide meetings. From reviewing training needs for parents, Kentucky is developing a 15-hour training course with core competencies including leadership roles and styles, communication skills, decision making skills, dealing with conflict, effective advocacy, and collaboration and partnership.
The North Carolina Division of Social Services (NCDSS) is the designated CBCAP administrator and is a key partner in the North Carolina Essentials for Childhood initiative. As a part of this initiative, they sponsored the 2022 KIDS Summit: Empowered Communities Driving Change in collaboration with NC Child. The focus of this summit was to build capacity at the community level to promote racially equitable public policies that mean every child can thrive and addressed specific barriers for children of color and all sessions were available in English and Spanish. Over 500 community stakeholders attended this two-day virtual summit. Working authentically in communities impacted by poverty and injustice is hard – and we will make mistakes. So many of the speakers at 2022 Kids acknowledged this and urged us all to keep trying, not to give up when we stumble.
The Children’s Trust of South Carolina is the CBCAP administrator and hosts a biennial event that offers South Carolina’s family-serving professionals a high-quality learning, networking, and resource sharing experience. The 2022 Building Hope for Children Conference (BHCC) focused on self-care, recognizing that many of the state’s child- and family-serving professionals experienced significant burnout and primary and secondary trauma as a result of their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Children’s Trust sought to recognize and acknowledge the tremendous difficulties that the family-serving workforce has faced in the last few years. The conference featured a keynote presentation on self-care as well as breakout sessions on related topics and mindfulness activity breaks like chair yoga. In addition to this focus on the health, wellbeing and retention of practitioners, the conference included many sessions designed to help practitioners engage with service recipients in special populations including fathers, individuals with disabilities, and individuals experiencing issues with substance use.
Economic and Concrete Supports
Knowing that child and family poverty represents a key source of family vulnerability, five CBCAP lead agencies offer examples of providing concrete supports to families to prevent involvement in their states’ child welfare systems.
The Arizona Department of Child Safety, Office of Prevention administers CBCAP funding. Arizona currently has one of the largest housing awards from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Family Unification Program (FUP) vouchers. The FUP vouchers provide housing to families to prevent children from entering care, removing housing barriers for the reunification of children and parents, and for foster youth aging out of care that are at risk for homelessness. Arizona has a total of 441 FUP vouchers across the state among six housing authorities: city of Mesa, Tempe, Phoenix, Maricopa County, city of Tucson, and city of Yuma. The Office of Prevention has been offering training sessions to both staff within the state’s child welfare agency and community supports that offer help to the specific populations who are eligible for the Family Unification and Foster Youth to Independence housing choice voucher programs. Strategic training has been created to help support those serving this population to not only understand the programmatic requirements, but also to offer support to the unique needs of individuals who may be experiencing homelessness and have been involved in child welfare. In addition to the training, the Office of Prevention has collaborated with Family Resource Centers and Faith Based Organizations to provide families with assistance for concrete needs such as auto repairs, pediatric dentistry, mental health services and trade or vocational school. This pilot program is available in areas where child protection reports and removals are high.
Prevent Child Abuse Delaware provided CBCAP funds to the Dual Generation Center to positively impact housing availability for families by strengthening landlord relationships and the establishment of a Risk Mitigation Fund for landlords. This fund provides assurance to landlords that they will be compensated for any damage done to properties by tenants participating in the program, by reimbursing up to $2,000 for physical and operational losses for the first year after move-in. The fund provided a "guarantee" of compensation and property repair, that encouraged landlords to rent to families with limited income, poor rental history, poor credit, or past involvement with the criminal justice system. The Dual Generation Center uses a grassroots approach to build landlord relationships, leaning on its ever-growing network to identify new housing opportunities. A dedicated staff member makes daily calls and keeps a list of available rentals. In addition, the Executive Director, Case Managers, Parent Liaisons and Administrative Support staff members make calls, search online rental sites, and reach out to or field calls from those in their housing network. Center staff also meet with landlords and community members supporting housing policy at Landlord Association Meetings and community housing advocacy meetings.
In FFY22, the Children’s Trust Fund Missouri released approximately $342,000 to help address COVID-related immediate needs experienced by community-based prevention agencies and the families they serve. To establish funding criteria based on identified needs, CTF held listening sessions with stakeholders and attempted to collect information directly from families through a survey distributed by funded programs. CTF considered the following costs to be eligible under this funding opportunity:
- Concrete supports provided to families living in poverty and/or who have been adversely affected by COVID-19, which may include assisting families in accessing additional services to further address their basic, health, and safety needs;
- General operating expenses for agencies experiencing a loss in fundraising revenue due to COVID-19;
- Costs associated with addressing workforce issues, which may include activities designed to prevent and address burnout in staff and administrators;
- Costs associated with addressing increased programmatic needs resulting from COVID-19; and
- Costs associated with addressing other immediate needs of community-based child abuse prevention agencies, and/or families receiving their services, that are outside of the eligible costs listed above.
The Ohio Children’s Trust Fund (OCTF) has long recognized the need to provide funding for entities to propose and implement innovative child abuse and child neglect prevention programming. OhioGuidestone, a care management entity for OhioRISE!, applied for and received funding through the OCTF’s Early Childhood Safety Initiative (ECSI) from 2022-2023. From the Father’s Feelings Project through the Institute of Family Community Impact, OhioGuidestone heard from fathers in many regions of Ohio that there was a need to access infant household items, such as cribs, pack and plays, highchairs, baby feeding supplies, etc. OhioGuidestone utilized its ECSI grant funds to provide Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) eligible fathers access to infant items to support safe sleep, play and mealtimes. Fathers participating in this program receive up to $400 in concrete support fatherhood items (e.g., pack-n-play, car seat, mealtime items, stroller, plug covers, baby gate, etc.) to aid them in the care of their babies. The Father’s Feelings Project is designed to screen fathers for depression and offers father-specific brief interventions to improve father-child caretaking strengths and addresses the unique needs of fathers in child rearing during the child’s first year, to prevent father-child maltreatment. The goals of this project included increased nurturing skills and attachment aligned to strengths of fathers, improved stress responses, identification and responses to mental health barriers to paternal engagement, and increased awareness and access to father specific resources.
The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), Self-Sufficiency Program (SSP) administers the Family Support and Connections (FS&C) program providing primary and secondary child abuse prevention services, which is funded in part by CBCAP (other funding includes state general funds and TANF Federal funds), and promotes community and family health, safety, and economic stability to prevent child abuse and neglect. The administration of FS&C joins together anti-poverty programs with child abuse prevention programming to best bridge access, resources, and support for those most impacted by the risks associated with child abuse and neglect. Among other supports, Family Support and Connections help families in accessing resources for housing. In Multnomah County, FS&C works with local culturally specific agencies, shelters, churches, landlords, and property management companies. Staff use all methods available to assist families in finding housing:
- writing advocacy letters,
- connecting families with Rent Well classes,
- meeting face to face with potential housing prospects,
- making phone calls,
- assisting with applications,
- removing barriers,
- navigating the follow through of advice from Renter’s Rights, and
- getting creative with how to support families while they are looking for housing.
In addition to the work of FS&C, the ODHS Youth Experiencing Homelessness Program awarded approximately $2.1 million to organizations across Oregon to expand and improve services and support for youth experiencing homelessness and $1.5 million in grant funding to support host home programs that provide temporary housing for youth experiencing homelessness.
Parent Support Programs
Five states offer examples of programs that maximized the participation of parents in underserved groups.
The Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, also known as the Children’s Trust Fund, is the state lead agency for child maltreatment prevention activities and has worked collaboratively with other state agencies as well as public and private sector agencies to strengthen the system of service delivery to children and families. CBCAP funds were used to serve the underserved population of incarcerated mothers through two parent education and support programs, Aid to Inmate Mothers and the Alabama Prison Birth Project. Aid to Inmate Mothers is the only program in Alabama serving incarcerated mothers with children of all ages through parenting education classes, which include a total of six 90-minute classes using the 1-2-3 Magic. The program also coordinates monthly visitations and activities for the mothers and children, as well as provides a storybook recording program where a video of the mother reading a book is mailed to the child along with the book. The Alabama Prison Birth Project is the only program in Alabama serving pregnant women currently incarcerated by providing 1:1 doula support for mothers through private, prenatal visits with doulas where incarcerated mothers receive trauma-informed physical and emotional support throughout their pregnancy, during labor, and postpartum. The program also leads weekly prenatal support and parenting education groups. Utilizing the Pregnancy and Beyond and Mothering Inside curriculums, these 120-minute classes teach incarcerated pregnant mothers about bonding with their infant before and immediately after birth, breastfeeding, early infant development, and parenting. The classes, in addition to increasing the women’s maternity and parenting knowledge and skills, also provide an essential forum for community-building and social support.
The New Hampshire Children’s Trust (NHCT) has over three decades of experience collaborating with professionals to develop integrated approaches for training, technical assistance, evaluation, quality improvement, and program support for organizations working to promote safe, stable, and nurturing environments for children in New Hampshire. NHCT oversees the Kinship Navigation Program throughout the state and is now active throughout the NH Corrections System. Through the Kinship Navigation Program, relative caregivers receive the assistance they need to raise the children in their care in a safe and nurturing environment from a dedicated and specially trained provider. Kinship Navigators work closely with each family from intake onward, promoting effective partnerships and wraparound services among public and private agencies. The prisons work with residents and families to assess their needs and make recommendations to area family resource centers to help the families access services. In fact, when a Kinship Navigator identifies that a child has been placed with a kinship caregiver, due in whole or in part to the incarceration of one or both parents, the data system sends an automatic alert to the coordinator of the “Family Ties Inside and Out” program at the Department of Corrections so that caregivers and children can be connected with one of several support groups offered statewide.
The North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, Children and Family Services Division is the CBCAP lead agency. The Region 2 Parent and Family Resource Center provides weekly 1.5-hour sessions at the Ward County Jail for moms based on an identified need in the region for parenting education for incarcerated parents. The Turning Points curriculum is followed. Moms keep a file with handouts and notes. The women in the class are residents of North Dakota as well as from throughout the United States. Dads can receive packets for self-study if they wish. The West Dakota Parent and Family Resource Center in Region 8 offers Parent Education on an ongoing basis at the Dakota Women’s Correctional and Rehabilitation Center. The Parent Education session is offered weekly to both minimum and medium security female inmates, utilizing research-based parent education programs. Materials are provided for checkout onsite at the Dakota Women’s Correctional and Rehabilitation Center.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Division of Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) serves as the CBCAP lead agency. PEI contracts with local non-profits, health care providers, governments, and schools to provide community-based prevention services to families. The Service Members, Veterans and Families (SMVF) program provides support for families of children ages 0-17 in which a parent or caregiver are serving, or have served, in the armed forces, reserves, or National Guard. SMVF fits into Texas’ continuum of prevention services by providing services to new communities, supporting parents with children of all ages, and by targeting military families. Through supports such as parenting education, counseling, and youth development the SMVF program:
- Builds on the strengths of both caregivers and children to promote strong families.
- Partners with military and veteran caregivers to support positive parental involvement in their children’s lives.
- Partners with military and veteran caregivers to maximize their ability to give their children emotional, physical, and financial support.
- Builds community coalitions focused on promoting positive outcomes for children, youth, and families.
The Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division serves as the lead CBCAP agency. The Child Development Division operates Children’s Integrated Services (CIS), which offers early intervention, family support, and prevention services that help ensure the healthy development and well-being of children, pre-birth to age five. CIS services are family-centered, child-focused, and delivered through the network of Parent Child Centers and other community-based partners. The fifteen community-based family resource centers, called Parent Child Centers (PCC), provide children, youth, and families with strength-based, holistic, and collaborative services. PCCs also operate Learning Together programs offering job-readiness and high school completion programs for pregnant and parenting teens and young adults. Services include individualized and group learning opportunities, case management, on-site counseling, parent education, childcare, and assistance in finding and maintaining affordable housing. Even though Vermont is often ranked as having one of the lowest teen birth rates as compared to other states, one PCC offers an Expecting Teens Doula Program. A local Doula works with expecting teens including classes on childbirth to prepare the expectant mom. She is very familiar with area resources, has close ties to local obstetricians and has been working in this capacity for more than 20 years.