Welcome to the Safe Start Center e-newsletter. In this issue, we feature resources about the continuum of evidence and guidelines for implementing evidence-based programs, and a new article addressing the lifelong effects of early childhood toxic stress. We welcome your comments and suggestions. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please contact us at info@safestartcenter.org or 1-800-8650965. Be sure to visit our website, www.safestartcenter.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for ongoing news and links to new resources.
IN THIS ISSUE
Current news related to the impact of exposure to family and community violence on children and their families
Conferences, funding opportunities and related initiatives in the news
Print and media resources for professionals and families
Tools/Resources
Guides, curricula, and e-learning
Policy/Advocacy
Local, state and Federal initiatives and information for policy advocates
Studies/Reports
Research studies, fact sheets, descriptive analyses, and reports on current issues and practices
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CEV IN THE NEWS
Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Mandated Reporting
On December 13, 2011, the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families held a hearing on new mandated reporting legislation drafted in response to the recent Penn State scandal. The hearing included discussions on current statutes, current efforts by individual states, best practice in child abuse prevention, and ways to improve treatment, program, and policy.
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National Forum on Youth Violence Grantee Meeting
In a working session on October 31–November 1, 2011, the six city teams of the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention met with federal agencies in Washington, DC. Participants discussed strategies including youth and family engagement, faith and community-based outreach, and intervention and enforcement models. The cities are funded to implement a city-wide strategy that combines prevention, intervention, treatment, and re-entry.
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Department of Justice Task Force Holds Second Hearing
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence held its second public hearing on Tuesday, January 31st in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Expert panelists and members of the public addressed current problems and system responses to children's exposure to violence in rural and tribal communities.
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EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Funding Announcement: MCH Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Research Program
Funding is available in FY 2012 to support approximately two extramural multi-year research projects. The MIECHV Research Program supports applied research relating to maternal, infant, and early childhood home visiting services which show promise of advancing knowledge about the implementation and effectiveness of home visiting programs designed to improve life outcomes among mothers, infants, and young children. Applications are due March 16, 2012.
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Safe Start Center Blog Series Wins Award
The Safe Start Center blogs posted during Bullying Prevention Month were awarded the Gold Award by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, an international competition that recognizes outstanding work by creative professionals involved in the production of media that is part of the evolution of digital communication. Gold Awards are presented to those entries judged to exceed the high standards of the industry norm.
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Medical Home Project Initiated by American Academy of Pediatrics
Results from surveys underscore that many pediatrician recognize the significant impact violence has on the health of children but feel ill-prepared to handle it due to a lack of training and resources. In response to these challenges, the AAP Council on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention and the Committee and Section on Child Abuse and Neglect are working with the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime to initiate the Medical Home for Children Exposed to Violence (MHCEV) project. Given the long-term physical and mental health consequences of exposure to violence, AAP recommends that children exposed to violence should be considered as having special health care needs, requiring coordinated services within the medical home.
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Methods Development in Dissemination & Implementation: Implications for Implementing and Sustaining Interventions in Child Welfare and Child Mental Health Service Systems (Webinar)
On February 22, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. PST, John Landsverk, PhD, Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, will discuss the use of evidence-based practices within child welfare and mental health organizations. This presentation is sponsored by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network as part of their Implementing & Sustaining Evidence-Based Practice Speaker Series.
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National Home Visiting Summit
Pew Center on the States, Washington, DC, February 15-16, 2011
The 2012 Summit will offer a forum for home visiting researchers, program leaders, and policy makers to connect research with policy and practice. Discussions will focus on the latest developments in the field and strategies to ensure that future investments support evidence-based models backed by strong policies and embedded in early childhood systems.
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CWLA National Conference
Child Welfare League of America, Washington, DC, February 26-28, 2012
Speakers will discuss innovations and best practice in child welfare and how to thrive despite the changing landscape and economic challenges. Topics include research-based best practices, emerging innovations in child welfare service delivery, and collaborative solutions.
National Symposium on Child Abuse
The National Children's Advocacy Center, Huntsville, AL, March 19-22, 2012
This conference is for professionals in administration, child protective services, law enforcement, victim advocacy, and the legal, medical, mental health, prevention and wellness fields. Workshop topics include implementing parent child interaction therapy in community agencies, investigating child abuse, drug-endangered children, resiliency and a paradigm shift in cultural competency.
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Conference on Preventing, Assessing and Treating Child, Adolescent, and Adult Trauma
Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, Honolulu HI, March 13-15, 2012
Participants will explore the latest research, prevention, assessment, and intervention techniques concerning various aspects of child, adolescent and adult trauma and maltreatment. Workshop topics include types of trauma, the dynamics of maltreatment and trauma at home or in the community, and the psychological, behavioral and neurodevelopmental effects on children, adolescents and adults.
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Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation
NIH, Bethesda, MD, March 19-20, 2012
The goal of the conference is to facilitate growth in the research base by providing a forum for communicating and networking about the science of dissemination and implementation. Researchers, evaluators and implementers are encouraged to attend this meeting.
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Black Administrators in Child Welfare National Conference
Ft. Lauderdale, FL, March 25-27, 2012
Child welfare administrators, researchers, practitioners and child advocates will explore current challenges around child welfare issues. Topics include ways to continue successful efforts to decrease the number of children in foster care, reducing disproportionality through community strategic planning, and partnership activities between NCJFCJ, Casey Family Programs and OJJDP.
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National Conference on Juvenile and Family Law
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Reno, NV, March 27-30, 2012
Participants will learn about innovations in programming and practice and opportunities for courts and communities to improve outcomes for children, youth, families, and victims. Practice areas include child abuse and neglect, mental health, delinquency, custody, immigration, domestic violence, and substance abuse.
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National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence
Futures Without Violence, San Francisco, CA, March 29-31, 2012
The goal of this conference is to advance the health care system's response to domestic violence. Workshop topics include health impacts, co-occurring issues, innovative practices, current research, and policy implications.
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Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness
SAMHSA and other federal agencies, Washington, DC, April 10-12, 2012
This conference will focus on collaboration between substance abuse treatment and other systems. Workshop topics include evidence-based practices, juvenile justice, school-based services, recovery services, and treatment and recovery systems collaboration and integration.
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Safe Start Promising Approaches II Grantee Meeting
OJJDP, Washington, DC, April 11-13, 2012
Representatives from the ten current Safe Start grantees will meet to share information on the evidence-based interventions they are implementing to prevent and reduce the impact of violence on children and their families, receive updates on the national evaluation, and plan next steps.
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Blueprints for Violence Prevention Conference
OJJDP, San Antonio, TX, April 11-13, 2012
This conference is for juvenile justice professionals to learn science-based information on effective youth violence, delinquency and drug prevention programs. Experts will provide education and tools for implementation success, sustainability, policy, and effective leadership.
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National American Indian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
National Indian Child Welfare Association, Scottsdale, AZ, April 22-25, 2012
At this conference, grassroots community representatives, child welfare professionals, and tribal leaders will discuss successful strategies for child welfare and provide opportunities for peer-to-peer networking. Topics include children's mental health service delivery financing children's services and the latest research on the well-being of American Indian/Alaska Native children.
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RESEARCH TO PRACTICE
Understanding Evidence, Part 1: Best Available Research Evidence. A Guide to the Continuum of Evidence of Effectiveness
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2011
In this guidance document, the authors explain the purpose and meaning of the Continuum of Evidence of Effectiveness, a tool that was developed to facilitate a common understanding of what "best available research evidence" means in the field of violence prevention. The Continuum provides a common language for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers in discussing evidence-based decision making and explains how projects that may not be appropriate for randomized control trials can still improve their effectiveness rating by focusing on other criteria within the framework.
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Framework for Effectively Implementing Evidence-Based Programs and Practices
National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention, 2011
In this online guide, the authors present action steps for the three phases of program development: selection, preparation and implementation. Contents also include a guide to evaluation and strategies, questions to ask and tools for successfully implementing each activity.
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FEATURED RESOURCE
The Lifelong Effects of Early Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress
American Academy of Pediatrics, 2011
In this public access document from the January 2012 issue of Pediatrics, the authors discuss the interface of neuroscience, genetics and developmental psychology research that illustrates the ways in which early experiences determine learning capacities, adaptive behaviors, lifelong physical and mental health, and adult productivity. They argue that many adult diseases should be viewed as developmental disorders that begin early in life and cause persistent health disparities associated with poverty, discrimination or maltreatment.
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ONLINE RESOURCES/PUBLICATIONS
Tools/Resources
Guides, curricula and online training
Assessing Project Performance – Building Blocks of Evaluation and Performance Measurement (Webinar)
On January 19, 2012, OJJDP sponsored this webinar on basic concepts and key terminology related to evaluation, performance measurement and logic models and why they are useful. The information will help practitioners integrate best available evidence with their existing expertise in working with delinquent and at-risk youth.
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Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Parental and Clinical Perspective (Webinar)
NCTSN, 2011
This webinar from May 2011 is one of several archived presentations on child sexual abuse in The National Child Traumatic Stress Network Learning Center for Child and Adolescent Trauma. To access the webinar, you will be asked to create a free account.
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Child Trauma and Juvenile Justice: Prevalence, Impact and Treatment (Webinar)
Consensus Project, 2011
This webinar reviewed the prevalence, impact, and treatment of trauma for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Experts discuss the role of screening and assessment for trauma as well available trauma-focused treatments within the juvenile justice system.
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Public Systems: Responding to Students Affected by Trauma (Webcast)
Chapin Hall, 2011
This webcast, held November 1, 2011, is a recording of a Child and Youth Policy Forum on how to better serve children and youth in the child welfare system that experience trauma. Panel members discuss their recommendations for effective interventions including an understanding of trauma and its effects, comprehensive information about the status of the child and adults in the child's life, and collaboration across public systems.
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Birth Parents with Trauma Histories in the Child Welfare System: A Guide for Resource Parents
NCTSN, 2011
Parents past or present trauma can make it difficult for them to work effectively with case workers and resource parents toward reunification with their children. The authors list potential effects of trauma on parents thoughts and behaviors, potential triggers, strategies to build cooperation, and how resource parents can protect themselves from secondary traumatic stress.
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Birth Parents with Trauma Histories and the Child Welfare System: A Guide for Judges and Attorneys
NCTSN, 2011
A current or past history of violent or traumatic events can affect a parent's confidence and ability to keep children safe, work effectively with child welfare staff, and respond to the requirements of the court. In this guide, the authors describe a trauma-informed approach to parents in the court system, and how to effectively refer them to appropriate services.
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Psychological First Aid: Guide for Field Workers
World Health Organization, 2011
This manual provides guidelines for providing supportive and practical help to persons experiencing crisis events in a framework that respects their dignity, culture and abilities. Chapter 3 addresses how to support children; chapter 5 includes a case scenario involving children of refugee families who have experienced violence.
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Policy/Advocacy
Local, State and Federal initiatives and information for advocates
States and the New Federal Home Visiting Initiative: An Assessment from the Starting Line
Pew Center on the States, 2011
In 2010, under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Congress established the federal home visiting program to expand and improve state-administered home visitation. In this report, the authors report on FY 2010 activities in the states, describe federally-approved models, link to programs by state, and provide policy recommendations. Their findings indicate that large investments in home visiting are being made, but that decisions are generally not based on evidence and that funding and oversight are inadequate.
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Studies/Reports
Research studies, fact sheets, descriptive analyses and reports on current issues and practices
Bullying in Schools: An Overview
OJJDP, 2011
In this article in the December issue of Juvenile Justice Bulletin, the authors analyze the results of 3 previous studies of the connections between being victimized and variables such as school engagement and school achievement. They argue that the assumption that a problem can be most effectively addressed when its parameters can be cleanly measured and when experimental and control comparisons are used limits the real world usefulness of the findings. They argue that statistical studies need to be supplemented with qualitative studies that can add important context and ensure long-term outcomes such as helping victims remain crime free as adults.
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The Value of the Medical Home for Children Without Special Health Care Needs
American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012
In this free access article from the January 1 issue of Pediatrics, researchers analyzed the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health that included over 70,000 children, to determine whether medical home is associated with positive health outcomes among children without special health care needs. They find that medical home is significantly associated with increased prevention care visits, decreased outpatient sick visits, and decreased emergency room visits.
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Safe Start Center Series on Mandated Reporting
During the month of December, the Safe Start Center conducted a campaign on mandated reporting including bi-weekly blogs, Facebook posts, articles on the website, and twitter postings. Topics included the role of mandated reporting in the Penn State scandal, the basics on mandated reporting, current barriers and proposed solutions to underreporting, and implications for practice.
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Sex? Or Sexual Abuse? Respect Yourself - Know the Difference
NCTSN, 2011
This fact sheet discusses five classic "red flags" of sexual abuse and explains for teens the difference between sex and sexual abuse.
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Spotlight on Culture: Helping Latin American Pregnant Immigrant Women Exposed to Trauma
NCTSN, 2011
In this article in the Winter 2011 issue of Impact, the authors explain the ways in which child-parent psychotherapy is a culturally sensitive trauma-informed treatment model. The model focuses on the child-parent relationship, addressing cultural beliefs, parenting practices, immigration experiences, and the intergenerational transmission of trauma. Two practitioners describe their work with pregnant and parenting mothers from Latin America and explain how strategies such as "cultural mirroring" promote healing across cultures.
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Suicide and Bullying
Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2011
This brief explains the relationship between bullying and suicide, especially as it relates to LGBT youth. Contents include the extent of the problem, current state of school-based bullying prevention, and the ways schools currently identify students at risk for suicide. They recommend comprehensive school-based prevention programs that focus on students at risk for a range of behavioral health and conduct problems, and also engage parents in bullying prevention education.
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Secondary Stress: A Fact Sheet for Child-Serving Professionals
NCTSN, 2011
In this fact sheet, the authors provide an overview of secondary stress and its potential impact on service providers. Contents include assessment, prevention, and actions that agencies and systems can take to mitigate secondary stress and support staff resiliency.
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RELATED LINKS
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CONTACT US
We invite your comments and suggestions. Please contact us at info@safestartcenter.org or 1-800-865-0965.
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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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