Prevent Child Abuse New York's Blog

Capital District Law Enforcement Set to Stand Up For Preventing Child Abuse

Schenectady County's District Attorney and Sheriff, Albany's Chief of Police, and Rensselaer County's District Attorney join other area law enforcement to unveil a new report on the child abuse-crime link, costs of abuse. Leaders support efforts to break cycle of abuse through voluntary home visiting. Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at Parsons Family Resource Center, 125 Bigelow Avenue, Schenectady NY 12304.

Schenectady, N.Y. -- Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney, Schenectady County Sheriff Dominic Dagostino, Albany City Police Chief Steven Krokoff and Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally will headline the release of a new report being issued by law enforcement leaders and crime survivors on the extent of child abuse and neglect in New York. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York members are issuing the report showing that over 77,000 New York children suffered abuse or neglect in 2010—more than 200 every day. Among New York children who suffered abuse and neglect in 2010, the report says at least 114 children died. In the Capital District alone, there were 3,986 (Albany: 1,218; Rensselaer: 823; Saratoga: 802 Schenectady: 1,143) children abused or neglected.

Carney, Dagostino, Krokoff and McNally will emphasize the benefits of voluntary home visiting services, which help new parents cope with the stresses of raising a young child.  Research shows that quality home visiting programs can cut child abuse and neglect by as much as 50 percent, significantly reduce later crime and save taxpayer dollars. Carney, Dagostino, Krokoff and McNally will also voice strong support for services proven to prevent child abuse by releasing an open letter to policy makers, signed by more than 1,560 law enforcement leaders nationwide (more than 200 from New York): one for every confirmed child who died from abuse or neglect in 2010.

Scared Sick Lecture and Book-signing with Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith Wiley, April 2 in Albany

Toxic: extremely harsh, malicious, or harmful. Stress: a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation.

Toxic stress is a regular companion for children living in families where abuse, neglect, and dysfunction are part of everyday life.  The impact on children and on our communities is profound and far-reaching.

No one explains better than Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith Wiley how toxic stress triggers problems that have created a major public health crisis - the research, the risks, and the results. Highlighting case studies and cutting-edge scientific findings, the authors show how our innate fight-or-flight system can injure us if overworked in the early stages of life, triggering diabetes, heart disease, obesity, depression, and addiction later in life.

The co-authors of Ghosts from the Nursery: Tracing the Roots of Violence and Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease, will speak Monday, April 2, 2012 at 2 p.m. at the School of Social Welfare, University at Albany Page Hall.

Presented by Prevent Child Abuse New York and the University at Albany School of Social Welfare, the event is free and open to the public.

For more information or to register, e-mail Brittani Hanson, bhanson@preventchildabuseny.org.

You may view a video trailer about the book Scared Sick at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLF1jfWbj64

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Robin Karr-Morse is family therapist and a veteran of child welfare and public education systems in Oregon. Formerly the Director of Parent Training for the state child welfare system, she was the first executive director of the Oregon Children's Trust Fund, a consultant to Dr. T. Berry Brazelton's Touchpoints Program and a lecturer on the Brazelton Seminar Faculty. She has worked with county, state and national officials across the country to create social policies which support families in children’s earliest development. Currently, she is working with a group of colleagues to build “The Parenting Institute” to provide parents with state of the art developmental knowledge, skills and support which focuses on building emotionally competent children from conception through adolescence.

Meredith Wiley is a former prosecutor and currently state director of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids New York, a crime fighting organization of law enforcement leaders and victims of violence who work to educate policy makers and the public on what works to get kids off to a good start in life and keep them from ever becoming criminals. Meredith is a former prosecutor.  She has been appointed to the New York State Children’s Cabinet Advisory Council, the Early Childhood Advisory Council, the Governor’s Task Force to Transform Juvenile Justice and the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, and also is on the National Board of Advisors for the Nurse Family Partnership Program and the National Board of Advisors for the Parent Child Home Program.

Healthy Families New York Home Visiting Continued in Governor's Proposed Budget

We are deeply pleased that Governor Cuomo’s budget includes $23.3 million for Healthy Families New York Home Visiting, allowing the program to continue improving the lives of vulnerable children and families in some of the state’s highest need communities.

The voluntary prenatal - early childhood program has a proven track record of better outcomes for children. Through guidance and support for at-risk expectant and new mothers in 39 high-risk communities, it begins at the earliest opportunity to improve children’s health, safety and learning.

The program’s statewide system of training, site support and evaluation assures the program’s quality and effectiveness. Cost savings begin immediately, with healthier babies delivered, and continue for years as children do better in school.

At the same time as we applaud this year’s continuation of services, we also look toward future expansion of support for New York’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens. Our system of home visiting services still serves only a small percentage of those who would benefit. We can and should build on the existing system by increasing the availability of other proven home visiting programs like Nurse Family Partnership, Parents As Teachers and Parent-Child-Home, as well as Healthy Families New York.

The prenatal and earliest childhood period provides a critical window of opportunity. The profound impact of infants’ health at birth and the care they receive - or don’t receive - during the first three years lasts throughout their lives. Regular visits by trained home visitors during this time shifts the trajectory of families’ lives and lays a strong foundation for children’s future, thereby preventing problems that require expensive intervention and remediation.

Greater investment in evidence-based and promising home visiting programs in New York State will strengthen families, improve children’s wellbeing and development, and save taxpayers money.

Two Quick Thoughts About Penn State

If you’ve read about the accusations against Penn State’s former football coach, you realize that children could have been saved from sexual abuse if the person who observed an incident - or any of those who were told about it - had contacted law enforcement. So a reminder for those who live and work in New York State: report child abuse and maltreatment to our state’s child abuse hotline at 1-800-342-7472. However, call 911 or your local police department immediately if you witness a child being abused, as happened at Penn State.

Just as important, perhaps even more so, we must stop this kind of harm from occurring in the first place. Child sexual abuse can be prevented when parents and other adults in the community understand the realities of child sexual abuse and have tools to protect children. It is seldom “stranger danger,” but almost always someone close to the child and family.  Our friends at Enough Abuse offer information and ideas in Six Prevention Tips to help all of us meet our responsibility to protect our children.  We encourage you to read them and to share them with your friends, family and community.

Ms. Foundation Awards Funds to End Child Sexual Abuse

Good news from Prevent Child Abuse America and our sister chapters in Massachusetts, New Jersey and North Carolina: They've been awarded a grant from the Ms. Foundation for Women to continue their work to end child sexual abuse.

The Ms. Foundation for Women recently announced $600,000 in grants as part of a partnership with the NoVo Foundation and individual donors to end child sexual abuse in the United States.

“The Ms. Foundation for Women is proud to announce this new round of grants to prevent child sexual abuse,” says Senior Program Officer Monique Hoeflinger. “From working within Native American and religious communities, to advocating for new federal policies, to using art as a catalyst for social change, each group is pursuing innovative strategies to engage families, communities and policymakers to end child sexual abuse once and for all.”

“We not only want to celebrate the Ms. Foundation’s generosity,” says Jim Hmurovich, President & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, “but also their focused leadership on supporting an issue that has been silent far too long. I believe that people are awakening to the fact that healthy child development is better for children and our communities than experiencing child abuse and neglect. I am hopeful that this generosity and leadership will contribute to a grassroots movement for America’s children in communities across the nation to prevent sexual abuse and other forms of abuse from ever occurring. We all have a role to play in developing our next generation of adults, and the Ms. Foundation certainly is doing their part.”

A total of 15 organizations were selected from over 250 submissions. The awardees—representing local, state and national groups working in 14 states across the country—are faith-based, arts, domestic violence and survivor-led groups as well as sexual assault coalitions and child abuse prevention organizations, including Prevent Child Abuse America working in partnership with three members of its chapter network Prevent Child Abuse Maryland which is housed at The Family Tree, Prevent Child Abuse Massachusetts which is housed at Massachusetts Citizens for Children and Prevent Child Abuse New Jersey; and Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina which received its own individual grant.

In its selection of grantees, the Ms. Foundation prioritized organizations that advocate for policy reform and long-term culture change. Together, these grantees will foster a groundswell of new thinking, discussion and collective action on child sexual abuse prevention. In addition to delivering funds, the Ms. Foundation will offer critical non-monetary support that will enable awardees to share strategies and ideas and strengthen the movement overall.

“Child sexual abuse is a complex social problem that requires more than one organization or approach,” says Hoeflinger. “As reflected in this diverse group of grantees, ending child sexual abuse will take local, state and national organizations working together in a collaborative, strategic way.”

Violence Prevention Opportunity

Violence is a serious public health problem that affects people of all ages. Each year, more than 53,000 people lose their lives to violence, but this number doesn’t tell the whole story. Violence also destroys communities by reducing productivity, decreasing property values, and disrupting social services.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is determined to curb the effects of this problem. One way they are doing this is by providing a free online course that’s available 24/7 titled Principles of Prevention. The course teaches key concepts of prevention, the public health approach, and the social-ecological model. Through interactive exercises, participants learn how to help prevent five types of violence:

• Child abuse and neglect
• Intimate partner violence
• Sexual violence
• Suicide
• Youth violence

Principles of Prevention is designed for those interested in preventing violence from happening in the first place. It helps participants become a part of the solution by teaching the fundamentals of effective violence prevention methods. The course includes:

• Interviews with leading experts in the field
• Dynamic graphics
• Interactive exercises
• Compelling storytelling that makes the case for violence prevention

Get Involved in National Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is national Child Abuse Prevention month—there's still time to get involved. You can be apart of raising awareness about child abuse and neglect and be a part of building stronger communities. Supporting children and parents to help prevent child abuse can be done throughout the year. The 2011 National Child Abuse Prevention Month website is a great source of information and strategies you can use to engage your community and support families. The site features:

• Strengthening Families and Communities: 2011 Resource Guide, a guide to help service providers strengthen families by promoting key protective factors that prevent abuse.
• Tip sheets to distribute to parents and caregivers to address a particular parenting concern or question. Each tip sheet is available in English and Spanish.
• An activities calendar using the Five Protective Factors. The calendar provides child welfare professionals with activities they can do with families throughout the month that support children and families.
• Prevention Month widgets to post on your website.
• A video explaining how Child Welfare Information Gateway helps connect professionals with information and resources on preventing child abuse and neglect.

Cuts to Healthy Families New York Will Cost Us Dearly

While I was happy to recently read about the successes Mt. Hope Family Center’s Building Healthy Children, a few days later the Governor’s budget proposal was revealed, and with it the complete elimination of funding for New York’s largest program that uses similar means to achieve similar outcomes.

The science of preventing negative childhood experiences, such as abuse, neglect and pre-term birth, before they happen is called primary prevention. Healthy Families New York has been a leading primary prevention program in New York state for sixteen years, and has fantastic data proving that mothers who enroll in it experience fewer low birth weight deliveries, lower rates of substance abuse and depression, and are less likely to abuse or neglect a child, even if they have abused or neglected a child in the past. After seven years, mothers who enroll in the program are less likely to have their child repeat a grade or receive special-education services, and they are more likely to have a child in a gifted program.

It is wonderful to give lip service to things like child abuse prevention and school readiness, but by eliminating funding to primary prevention programs, the governor’s budget actually costs us money in the short and long term. Healthy Families NY has been proven to save $50 in taxpayer money per family enrolled the year the family enrolls, and those savings increase as time goes by. The program has served between 4000-5000 families throughout the state in the last few years, so the savings are considerable. Leading economists have agreed that the best way to stimulate long-term economic growth is to invest in evidence-based early childhood programs such as Healthy Families NY.

In his race to close this year’s budget gap, the governor has managed to cut so deep as to lacerate a system that already saves us money. And he is doing it by dooming thousands of children to suffering needlessly throughout their lives.

Governor Cuomo's Budget Proposal Eliminates Funding for Healthy Families New York

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed state budget eliminates funding for one of New York’s most cost-effective and cost-savings programs, Healthy Families New York home visiting. This proposal would dismantle a program that has a proven record of preventing child abuse and also would make New York ineligible for federal grants that would improve the lives of more of our states’ most vulnerable children and families.

Healthy Families New York (HFNY) serves at-risk pregnant and new mothers in 38 of the state’s highest need communities. Cost savings begin immediately with healthier babies delivered, and continue for years with fewer incidents of child abuse, lower child welfare costs, and greater success in school leading to less need for special education services.

“We are dismayed that the Governor proposes ending the Healthy Families New York program, given the proven outcomes for children and the potential for significant additional federal funding for the state,” said Christine Deyss, Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse New York. “This action would undo 16 years of work to develop one of the best state systems for early childhood home visiting in the country.”

A seven-year randomized trial evaluation of HFNY demonstrates:

• Low birth weight deliveries are reduced.
• Children’s preventive health care is improved.
• Physical abuse is reduced and parents’ use of non-violent discipline increased.
• Parents at the highest risk have fewer founded cases of abuse and neglect.
• Fewer children need special education or repeat a grade.
• More children do well on standardized test and are in gifted programs.

The average annual cost to provide HFNY services to a family is about $4,600. For low birth weight babies, additional medical costs in the first year of life range from $25,000 to $90,000, primarily paid by Medicaid and state sponsored insurance plans. The average annual cost to the state for foster care for a child who has been abused is more than $24,000; total federal, state and local expenditures on child welfare services in our state are approximately $2.7 billion. Special education services more than double the cost of a child’s education.

For families who had prior histories of child abuse or neglect, the program generated a return of more than $3 for every dollar spent in seven years, due to reduced involvement with the child welfare system and other government programs.

Prevent Child Abuse New York brought Healthy Families New York to the state, and we'll continue to fight to keep the program going. We need all the help we can get! Please join our movement to reinstate funding for HFNY. You can start by signing up for our e-newsletters and action alerts so you can stay up-to-date on the latest developments in what will surely be a long and difficult struggle on behalf of New York's most vulnerable children.

New Study Finds Healthy Families New York to be a Great Investment in Children and Their Families

A new study by the state Office of Children and Family Services and the State University of New York shows that Healthy Families New York (HFNY) has had a profound impact on the lives of children and their families; resulting in fewer incidents of child abuse, fewer low birth weight babies and greater success in school for kids whose mothers participated.

HFNY believes strongly in enhancing the healthy child development of all children in New York and the program promotes optimal child health, connecting families with medical providers for prenatal and well-baby visits and immunizations. It also helps parents to develop strong, positive relationships with their children and assesses children for developmental delays.

From the time the program began in 1995 through the end of 2009, HFNY provided 777,000 home visits to more than 25,760 families. Participants are screened to identify risk factors and stressors the family may face. Each family is offered long-term in-home services until the child is in school or Head Start.

The findings of the seven-year randomized controlled trial include the following:

• Across the seven years, mothers who received HFNY reported many fewer incidents of serious physical abuse than mothers in a control group did.
• At ages 2, 3, and 7, young, first-time mothers who entered the program early in pregnancy consistently reported and were repeatedly observed using lower levels of harsh parenting as compared to their counterparts in the control group.
• From the study’s start through age seven, HFNY mothers who had substantiated child maltreatment reports prior to random assignment had markedly lower rates of involvement in confirmed CPS reports for neglect (38% vs. 57%), confirmed reports for physical abuse (3% vs. 13%), and preventive, protective, and placement services (38% vs. 60%) as compared to a subset of similar women from the control group.
• Overall, HFNY mothers were more likely to be observed using parenting strategies that stimulated the child’s cognitive skills and to report using nonviolent discipline strategies.
• Children in HFNY were more likely to participate in a gifted program at school, less likely to receive special education services, and less likely to report skipping school. Educational advantages were even more striking among children born to first-time mothers under age 19 who were offered HFNY in early pregnancy. These children were half as likely to repeat a grade and considerably less likely to score below average on a standardized vocabulary test.
• In addition to impacts on parenting and children’s education, women who enrolled in HFNY at or before 30 weeks of pregnancy were about half as likely to deliver low birth weight babies. This effect was especially notable among black and Latina mothers, two groups that persistently experience high levels of poor birth outcomes.

In terms of dollars and cents, the study also found that with mothers who had histories of engaging in child abuse or neglect, Healthy Families New York generated a return of more than $3 for every dollar spent due to reduced involvement with the child welfare system and other government programs.