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Research on What Works in Prevention

Identify resources that evaluate the effectiveness of programs to prevent child abuse and neglect or strengthen families. Search for abstracts of literature and websites from the Child Welfare Information Gateway Library.

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• Types of program approaches
• Programs that address specific issues

Emerging Practices in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Children's Bureau (2003) Identifies best practices in the field of child abuse prevention. Provides an overview of child abuse prevention and describes each of the selected programs. (PDF - 2,038 KB) Family Connections - National Program Replication Project University of Maryland, Baltimore A community-based neglect prevention program targeting at-risk families with children between the ages of 5 and 11. The only program in the nation designated as "demonstrated effective" in the prevention of child abuse and neglect, in the 2003 report, Emerging Practices in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

Applying the Principles of Prevention: What do Prevention Practitioners Need to Know About What Works? (PDF - 196 KB)
Nation, Keener, Wandersman, & DuBois (2005)
Outlines key components of prevention programs found to be successful and reviews action steps to assess the inclusion of the component.

Interventions to Prevent Child Maltreatment
Daro & McCurdy (2007)
In Handbook of Injury and Violence Prevention
View Abstract
Reviews the documented effects of universal and targeted child maltreatment prevention services and identifies program features associated with more robust outcomes.

LINKS (Lifecourse Interventions to Nurture Kids Successfully)
Child Trends
Online database offering details on evaluations of programs across various domains of child well-being that target children from birth to early adulthood.

Pathway to the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (PDF - 3560 KB)
Pathways Mapping Initiative (2007)
Describes a comprehensive set of actions that policymakers, service providers, and community-based organizations can take to improve the lives of children and families.

Preventing Violence: Research and Evidence-Based Intervention Strategies
Lutzker (Ed.) (2006)
View Abstract
Applies a public health model to the prevention of interpersonal violence and offers quantitative analyses from leaders in violence prevention with a strong scientific perspective.

Primary Prevention of Child Physical Abuse and Neglect: Gaps and Promising Directions
Klevens & Whitaker
Child Maltreatment, 12(4), 2007
View Abstract
Reviews literature from 1980 to 2004 to identify potentially promising primary prevention interventions that have not yet been evaluated in order to identify gaps and improve program development efforts.

Research-Based Elements of Effective Prevention Strategies (PDF - 132 KB)
Arizona Department of Health Services, Division of Behavioral Health (2002)
Outlines the characteristics of prevention programs found to be effective and includes checklists that can be used to assess existing programs.

What We Know and Don't Know About Preventing Child Maltreatment
Portwood
Journal of Aggression Maltreatment and Trauma, 12(3), 2006
View Abstract
Examines models of child abuse prevention, including child empowerment, parent education, and social and system-level efforts, and ways to improve prevention efforts.

	Related Information Gateway Topics Preventing child abuse & neglect: Evaluating prevention programs Systemwide: Service improvement/systems reform - Improving practices

Updated on July 7, 2008