preventchildabusenc.org

Parenting education can be delivered in a home setting (home visiting) or group setting (parenting education groups). Evidence-based parenting education, whether delivered in the home or in a group setting, has been shown to prevent child abuse and neglect before it ever occurs. Evidenced-based programs build parents’ resilience, offer support and social connections, and increase knowledge of child development, all of which benefits both children and families. Follow Prevent Child Abuse NC on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram and follow #HVPE4ALL on social media.

Over the past year Espino, along with a group of community leaders, parents and representatives from several youth-serving organizations in Wake County, have come together to strive toward the vision of safe and stable communities as they work to develop the Wake County Child Abuse Prevention Plan (Wake CAPP). Prevent Child Abuse NC supports community members, like Espino, in building Community Prevention Action Plans (CPAPs) which are meant to educate, empower, and support communities to implement effective child abuse and neglect prevention strategies so every child grows up in a safe, stable, nurturing environment. Learn more about Prevention Action Network Member Ginger Espino and how she is working to prevent child maltreatment in Wake County Q: Why is prioritizing child maltreatment prevention in Wake County important to you? A: We started the Wake County Child Abuse Prevention Plan work to make sure that all children are nurtured by strong families, thrive in stable environments surrounded by caring adults, and feel safe and protected.

* Encourage those working with children and youth in your place of worship to take our free online course Recognizing and Responding to Child Maltreatment. Designate committees or community groups focusing on building resilience can help a faith community understand and develop a response that destigmatizes many people’s experiences in dealing with toxic stress. * Implement at least one policy change [IE: staff and those volunteering and working with children take the Recognizing and Responding to Child Maltreatment free, online course.] * Implement at least one environmental change [IE: a breastfeeding room is available for nursing moms, offer to host parenting classes and support groups in your space]. Email Tracey for more information.]

Our closing keynote speaker, Dr. Melissa Merrick, serves as President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, the nation’s oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect. Previously, Dr. Merrick was a senior epidemiologist at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in Atlanta, and served on a detail in the Office of the Commissioner at the Children’s Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families. Dr. Merrick received her BA in psychology, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, joint doctoral program in clinical psychology, where she served as a program coordinator for the San Diego site of the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect consortium. Dr. Merrick was a National Institutes of Health-funded postdoctoral fellow at the University of Miami Child Protection Team (CPT), where she was involved in a multi-site program of research that examined child maltreatment risk and protective factors in families evaluated by CPTs across the state of Florida.