About Safe Start

Safe Start Center Publications: Issue Briefs

Safe Start Center announces free publications for practitioners working with children and families

The Safe Start Center recently published its first two issue briefs in the new Moving From Evidence to Action: The Safe Start Center Series on Children Exposed to Violence. The series was developed in response to the urgent need to translate research-based information on treating children’s exposure to violence and disseminate it to practitioners working in different systems and settings (pediatric care, schools, child welfare, domestic violence, homeless shelters and transitional housing as well as fatherhood programs). The series provides practical, how-to information and tools that frontline practitioners, managers, and administrators can use to address this critical issue in a coordinated manner. The publications are available free from the Safe Start Center or can be downloaded from www.safestartcenter.org.

Issue Brief #1 Understanding Children’s Exposure to Violence. This issue brief assists practitioners in understanding the impact of exposure to violence in the development of children as well as the environmental and family factors that may provide a buffer and prevent or reduce the impact of exposure to violence. It also describes key elements that help managers and practitioners design and implement comprehensive programs that enhance resilience, decrease risks, and provide specialized treatments to children exposed to violence and their families. In addition, this issue brief lists some of the challenges of implementing a coordinated system of care for children exposed to violence and their families and strategies to overcome these barriers.

Issue #2 Pediatric Care Settings. Pediatric care settings are perhaps the only places where children are seen at multiple points during their childhood and adolescence. These settings provide an excellent opportunity to screen families for health and social risks (including exposure to violence), educate parents, and refer children and families to services to prevent or treat emotional or behavioral problems that may result from exposure to violence. This issue brief presents different strategies that can be implemented in inpatient and outpatient healthcare delivery systems and in public and preventive healthcare settings such as the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and home visiting programs.

Issue #3 Schools. Schools play a critical role in helping prevent and reduce the impact of exposure to violence on children. This issue brief offers teachers, principals, counselors, and other school personnel tips on ways to identify and talk to students and parents who have been exposed to violence. It describes evidence-based practices that school staff members can use to accommodate and respond to students and support their academic achievement.

Issue #6 Homeless Shelters, Permanent/Supportive Housing, and Transitional Housing. Children who are homeless are much more likely than other children to be exposed to community violence, domestic violence, and child abuse. This issue brief offers homelessness services providers trauma-focused interventions that can be used to build the resilience and ensure the well-being of children and families exposed to violence.

Coming soon:
Issue Brief #4 Child welfare systems
Issue Brief #5 Domestic violence agencies and shelters
Issue Brief #7 Fatherhood programs