November 19th is Child Abuse Prevention Day

According to the Department of Health and Human Services over 3 million cases of child abuse are reported each year, 60 percent of which are deemed serious enough to warrant an investigation. November 19th is Child Abuse Prevention Day and there are several things you can do to help prevent child abuse and neglect.

Melissa Jonson-Reid, Ph.D., a child welfare expert and a professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis, offers these suggestions to get involved in protecting children from abuse.

1. Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in foster care. More information is available at http://www.nationalcasa.org/about_us/index.html

2. Check with your local Department of Transportation to see if they offer Children’s Trust Fund license plates or something similar.

3. Join an organization that helps lobby for and support child protection and child welfare efforts like the American Humane Association, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), or the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (IPSCAN). A detailed list of organizations across the world that work on issues related to child abuse and neglect can be found at this link.

4. Volunteer with your local crisis nursery program. Crisis nurseries offer residential care with the hopes that they can prevent abuse or neglect by caring for the children briefly while a parent addresses the current crisis.

5. Consider a career in policy, programs or intervention that prevent child maltreatment and/or assist children who have experienced maltreatment. A discussion of careers in child welfare can be found at this link.

Reading Resources

Broken Children, Grown-Up Pain (Revised): Understanding the Effects of Your Wounded Past

Helping Abused and Traumatized Children: Integrating Directive and Nondirective Approaches

Beyond Betrayal: Taking Charge of Your Life after Boyhood Sexual Abuse