Welcome to the Safe Start Center e-Newsletter. Our goal is to raise awareness of programs and resources that help communities implement evidence-based practices to address the effects of family and community violence on children and their families. In this issue, we feature the Safe Start program at St. Barnabas Hospital in Bronx, New York, which provides a medical home for young children exposed to violence and their families. The Featured Resource is the Winter 2008 issue of Best Practices in Mental Health, a special issue on findings from the Safe Start Demonstration projects. As always, we’d like to hear about your program. Please send an e-mail to info@safestartcenter.org or visit our Web site at www.safestartcenter.org.
Updates
Current news related to the impact of exposure to family and community violence on children and their families
From the Field
Spotlight on a community initiative to prevent and reduce the impact of domestic and community violence on children
Research to Practice
Using research to guide service delivery and policy
Featured Resource
A publication, video, curriculum, or other resource that supports evidence-based practice for children exposed to violence
Online Resources/Publications
Print and media resources for professionals and families
Resources/Available in Spanish
Related Links
Contact Us
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Three
Recent Studies on Youth Violence
Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF), July 2008
FVPF reviews three recent studies that document
high rates of dating, sexual and other forms of violence among
youth in the United States. The studies recommend more education,
detection and interventions beginning early in life. Access
the summary.
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Supporting Children Living with Grief and Trauma: A Multidisciplinary Approach
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime
Reno, Nevada, October 8-9, 2008
This training workshop will offer victim service providers and allied professionals unique methods for working with children experiencing grief and trauma. Topics include recognizing signs of grief and trauma in children, effectively intervening and supporting these children and their families, and collaborating with others in the field to provide services to grieving children and mitigate against traumatized children moving toward destructive or violent behaviors Access training information.
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Youth Violence Prevention: A Public Health Approach
National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families
Audioconference, Thursday, October 23, 2:30 p.m ET
This audioconference will feature municipal leaders who have mobilized their communities to treat youth violence as a public health issue, i.e., a preventable epidemic that can be treated only with multi-faceted, long-term solutions that address the root causes of the problem. Speakers will discuss approaches that blend law enforcement with prevention and intervention programs as well as public education campaigns that engage the entire community in reversing the culture of violence. Access audioconference information.
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38th
Annual National Black Child Development Institute Conference
Atlanta, Georgia, October 25-28, 2008
Our Future: Children in a Global Village is a conference for educators and professionals in early care
and education, elementary and secondary education and administration,
child welfare and youth development, research, and local, state,
and federal government. Topics include: public policy, parent
involvement, research-based early literacy and reading strategies,
culturally relevant tools and practices to promote the social
and emotional development of children, and hands-on strategy sessions.
For further information, visit
the conference Web site.
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National
Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Annual
Conference
Dallas, Texas, November 5-8, 2008
This conference is for teaching staff, program administrators,
students, researchers and teacher educators. Workshop tracks include:
assessment, children with disabilities, literacy and early language
development, social-emotional development, administration/management,
technology, professional development, and supporting families. Visit
the NAEYC Web site for further information and to register.
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2nd Annual Conference on Differential Response American Humane Association
Columbus, Ohio, November 12-14, 2008
This conference focuses on differential response, which is an approach that allows child protective services to respond differently to reports of child abuse and neglect based on various factors such as the type and severity of the alleged maltreatment, number and sources of previous reports, and willingness of the family to participate in services. Access conference information.
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National Training Institute
Zero to Three
Los Angeles, California, December 5-7, 2008
Designed for early childhood professionals, this multi-disciplinary conference offers workshops and training sessions from leading experts in the field. Topics include infant mental health, early development and learning, early intervention, program design, research, and policy. Access conference information.
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Conference on Supporting Children Living with Grief and Trauma: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center
Los Angeles, California, December 10-11, 2008
This conference is a training opportunity for victim service providers and allied professionals. Topics include: 1) Recognizing the signs of grief and trauma in children who experience the homicidal/suicidal death of a family member or witness violence in the home, or who experience violence themselves; 2) Effective ways to intervene with children experiencing grief; and 3) How victim service providers can assist the families. For further information and to register, visit the conference Web site.
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Available Online: Web Forum on Teen Victims of Dating Violence
Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) Providers Web Forum, February 2008
In February, OVC sponsored a Web Forum Guest Host Session on responding to teen victims of dating violence. The Forum was hosted by Mitru Ciarlante, Director of the National Center for Victims of Crime's Teen Victim Initiative, and Barri Rosenbluth, Director of Safe Place's Expect Respect Program. View the discussion online.
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Safe Start Bronx, New
York
Safe Start staff at the St. Barnabas Hospital Child Advocacy Center
provide a medical home for children ages birth to six exposed
to community and family violence and their families. An interdisciplinary
team consisting of a developmental pediatrician, child psychologist,
family coordinator, and social worker provide medical and pediatric
care, child-parent psychotherapy, parenting education, counseling,
advocacy with schools, and referral to other services. The team
also conducts medical, developmental, and psychosocial evaluations.
The medical home maintains a centralized, comprehensive record
of services to facilitate continuity and coordination of care.
This record makes possible more family-centered, culturally competent,
and compassionate service delivery.
Safe Start clinical staff provide an hour of weekly
dyadic child-parent psychotherapy (CPP) over 12 months. The goal
of the CPP model is to restore the child-parent relationship as
well as the child’s mental health and developmental progression,
which may have been damaged by the experience of violence. Child-parent
interactions are the focus of six intervention modalities aimed
at restoring a sense of mastery, security, and growth as well
as promoting congruence among bodily sensations, feelings, and
thinking on the part of both child and parent in their relationship
with each other.
The Safe Start staff is involved in community capacity
building. They developed a directory of resources and provide
ongoing training for pediatricians and community agencies to improve
the identification of children exposed to violence. Visit
the Safe Start Center Web site for contact information.
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Helping
St. Louis Families: A Guide for Court Professionals on the Co-Occurrence
of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse/Neglect
Lauren Litton, 2007
This Guide, written for the St. Louis County Greenbook
Initiative, contains recommendations developed by a coalition
of domestic violence organizations, the Missouri Department of
Social Services, Family Court of St. Louis County, and other key
partners. Over the past six years, these agencies analyzed current
policies and procedures in co-occurrence cases and recommended
ways to address existing challenges. The Guide is intended to
serve as a framework for attorneys, judges, social service providers,
and volunteers. Download
the guide.
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Best Practices in Mental Health: Special Issue on the Safe Start Demonstration Project
Vol. 4, No. 1, Winter 2008
Articles in this special issue present research
findings from the five year national process and outcome evaluation
of the Safe Start Demonstration communities, and the innovative
research projects designed and executed by six demonstration sites.
The authors offer practical evidence-based solutions to challenges
for practitioners and interagency collaborations created to serve
children who have been exposed to violence and their families.
Topics include: service recommendations, building resiliency,
crisis intervention for exposure to intimate partner violence,
role of law enforcement and other service sectors, and recommendations
for mental health systems. Access
the Safe Start Center Web site for article abstracts and ordering
information.
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ONLINE RESOURCES/PUBLICATIONS |
The Effects of Childhood Stress Across the Lifespan
J.S. Middlebrooks and N.C. Audage NC, 2008
This report, written for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, documents the link between 'toxic' stress and short- and long-term negative health effects. Quoting findings from the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, the authors present evidence showing that toxic stress in childhood can lead to health problems later in life including alcoholism, depression, eating disorders, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases. The focus of this report is the stress caused by child abuse, neglect, and repeated exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV). Prevention strategies are outlined within a social ecological model considering the complex interplay between individual, relationship, community and societal factors. Download the report.
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Understanding Links between Adolescent Trauma and Substance Abuse: A Toolkit for Providers
National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2008
Data indicate that one in four children and adolescents in the United States experience at least one potentially traumatic event before the age of 16, and more than 13% of 17-year-olds—one in eight—have experienced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives. Many of these young people also have access to psychoactive substances that can both dull the effects of stress and place teens at increased risk of experiencing trauma. This toolkit contains information for health care providers, parents, and teenagers, and serves as a training guide for providers working with this population. Download the Toolkit.
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Reducing Maternal Depression and Its Impact on Young Children
National Center on Children in Poverty, January 2007
Low-income mothers of young children experience particularly high levels of depression, often in combination with other risk factors. This policy brief examines how depression affects parenting and child outcomes; its occurs in combination with other parental risks, like post-traumatic stress disorder; and strategies to prevent negative consequences for parents and their young children. Download the brief.
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Children Left Behind: What Happens After Immigration Raids?
Chapin Hall, November 2007
With enforcement of immigration laws by Immigration and Customs Enforcement expected to intensify, including more large-scale worksite raids, the panelists in this audio conference consider who is responsible for protecting affected children and what policies and procedures could alleviate the negative consequences on young people. Access the audio conference.
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Cultural
and Linguistic Competence: Implementation Guide.
K. Martinez and E. Van Buren, 2008
Written for the Technical Assistance Partnership
for Child and Family Mental Health, the guide is a compendium
of knowledge and experience gained since the late 1990s for delivering
culturally and linguistically competent services in mental health
systems of care and other human service agencies. It provides
strategies, best practice examples, resources/tools, and performance
indicators for many infrastructure domains such as governance,
services and supports, planning/quality improvement, and collaboration/community
outreach. It is a comprehensive resource for agencies and organizations
seeking effective, evidence-based practices for including diverse
and underserved populations, including youth, families and community-based
organizations, both on staff and as recipients of services. Download
the guide.
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Paying
the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children
Urban Institute and National Council of La Raza, October
2007
This report is based on a study of three communities
that experienced large-scale worksite raids within the past year:
Greeley, Colorado; Grand Island, Nebraska; and New Bedford, Massachusetts.
The authors explore the impact of these raids on the well-being
of children, and provide specific recommendations to help mitigate
the harmful effects. View
the report.
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Keeping
Children Safe When Parents Are Arrested: Local Approaches That
Work
California Research Bureau, July 2007
Four California communities have developed protocols
to coordinate the response by child welfare services and law enforcement
when parents are arrested. These communities are now seeing lower
trauma rates, fewer children taken into formal custody by child
welfare, lower child welfare costs, and increased good will between
law enforcement, parents, and the community. The report is by
the California State Library and Research Bureau. View
the report .
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Promoting
Court Capacity to Improve Outcomes for Abused and Neglected Children
S. Robison, May 2007
Written for the National Conference of State Legislators,
this report outlines strategies for elected officials to raise
public awareness of the court’s role in the lives of vulnerable
children and families, and strengthen the collaboration between
courts and the child welfare system. Information is provided about
the role of the courts, a child’s journey through the child
welfare system, and opportunities for collaboration. Examples
of legislative action taken at the State level are provided. View
the report.
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Buenos Principios: Latino Children in the Earliest Years of Life
National Council of La Raza, 2008
This report by the National Council of La Raza provides a demographic profile of Latino infants and toddlers and examines the root causes of the school readiness gap. Findings include: 1) Latino children under age three are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups not to have health insurance and 63% of young Latino children lack access to a regular medical provider; 2) more than one quarter of Latino infants and toddlers live in linguistically isolated households in which only Spanish is spoken; 3) Latino children (29%) are less likely than their White peers (60%) to be read to on a daily basis. The authors conclude that investing in high-quality, comprehensive early childhood education programs could help narrow the growing school readiness gap between Latino and other children. Download the report.
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Cost Benefit Analysis of Interventions with Parents
Department of Children, Schools and Families, London, England 2007
In this report, the authors review outcome studies and cost-benefit analyses of specific US and UK programs designed to positively effect development of preschool children by increasing positive parental characteristics (e.g., income, employment, education, family structure) and parental behavior (e.g., discipline, involvement). Programs examined in the report include home visiting, Healthy Families, and Parents as Teachers. The authors conclude that such programs alone are not sufficient to promote child development, and call for studies of combined approaches such as center-based and parenting education, and programs focusing on father involvement. They also cite U.S. evidence that suggests the greatest benefits will come from programs targeting lower income, at-risk families. View the report.
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What About Me? Coping With the Abduction of a Brother or Sister
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, May 2007
This guide, written by siblings of children who have been abducted, contains information to help and support children of all ages. Contents include what children can expect in terms of the feelings they may experience, the events that may occur from day to day, and the things they can do to help themselves feel better. There are also activity pages for children of all ages, including children who are too young to read. Written in child-friendly language. Access the Guide.
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Crime in Schools and Colleges
Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007
This study reviews crime in schools and colleges from 2000 through 2004, based on reports to the FBI by law enforcement agencies. It examines characteristics of offenders and victims, including age, sex, race, nature of the offense, relation to victim of the offender, weapon used, etc. View the report.
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RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN SPANISH |
La
mamá de Tomasito visita la escuela/ Tomasito's Mother Comes
to School
FINE (Family Involvement Network of Educators)
When his Spanish-speaking mother makes an unexpected
visit to his classroom, second-grader Tomasito is angry and embarrassed...until
he discovers that his mother and teacher actually want to get
to know each other better in order to help him learn. This bilingual
online storybook about family involvement at school includes a
children’s story, along with an informational guide for
adult family members and discussion questions. The story draws
from the real experiences of one Latino boy and his family who
are acculturating to the U.S. Access
the storybook and related resources for parents and educators
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¿Qué
significa ser padres?: Guía para ayudarles a tener éxito
como padres y madres de familia
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,
2006
Este librito de 70 páginas incorpora más
de 20 años de investigaciones sobre la crianza de los hijos
que el NICHD ha realizado o apoyado. El librito le ofrece pautas
que le pueden ayudar a tener éxito como madre o padre de
familia. El librito también incluye historias sobre cómo
los padres aplican estas pautas en su vida diaria, en niños
desde recién nacidos hasta los 14 años de edad. Download/order
free copies or download
the English version, "Adventures in parenting: how responding,
preventing, monitoring, mentoring and modeling can help you be
a successful parent"
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We invite your comments and suggestions. Please contact us at info@safestartcenter.org or 1-800-865-0965.
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To view previous issues of the Safe Start e-Newsletter, visit www.safestartcenter.org and select Publications.
The Safe Start Center e-Newsletter is distributed by the Safe Start Center under Contract No. GS-10F-0285K with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Information and points of view in this newsletter do not imply endorsement by OJJDP, OJP, DOJ, or the Safe Start Center.
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