Children’s Trust receives notice for its work with the federal Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention programs.
2018 CBCAP State Summary of Exemplary Practices
Children’s Trust was one of eight state organizations named nationally for its exemplary practices in community-based comprehensive approaches to the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
In a late April announcement, the FRIENDS National Center for the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) shared its 2018 State Summary of Exemplary Practices: Building Effective Collaboration, which highlighted the innovative work being done by Children’s Trust in South Carolina.
The summary provides an overview of the CBCAP annual reports submitted to the Children’s Bureau, an office of the federal Administration of Children and Families, by each State Lead Agency (SLA) in the 50 states. It highlights activities and services implemented during the 2018 funding year, including information on core services and amounts funded in each state, a CBCAP infographic, and examples of reported activities in CBCAP topic-related areas.
Here’s an excerpt from the state summary:
“During 2018, Children’s Trust furthered expansion of prevention programming to help build safe, stable and nurturing environments for children by developing the design of a cross-sector prevention framework for local communities called Empower Action, continuing the use of South Carolina ACE data to inform and guide prevention work, and advocated for legislative initiatives that advance the health, safety and economic capacity of the state’s families, all while building upon internal race, equity and inclusion work to ensure all of South Carolina’s people and families are supported.”
Dr. Melissa Strompolis
Melissa Strompolis, Ph.D., Children’s Trust chief strategy and implementation officer, appreciated the acknowledgement from FRIENDS (Family Resource Information, Education, and Network Development Service), which provides technical assistance and training to the CBCAP community.
“We are excited that the work of our team members and partners to develop and implement the Empower Action Model has been recognized as an exemplary practice for building effective collaborations,” Strompolis said. “The Empower Action Model supports communities to prevent child abuse and neglect and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) through the promotion of equity, well-being, and resilience. This designation recognizes our innovation and leadership in prevention.”
The Empower Action Model provides tangible steps to prevent childhood adversity by implementing protective factors across multiple levels to build resilience and health equity. The model can assist families, those who serve families, communities or coalitions, and policy advocates in developing a plan for action in their respective areas of influence.
The state summary also highlighted the statewide ACE Initiative first started by Children’s Trust five years ago. It focuses on educating thousands of child- and family-serving professionals and community members on the impact of adversity across the lifespan. As a result of these efforts, the organization has identified a need for next steps to help communities that are interested in preventing the negative impact of ACEs.
CBCAP is supported by key federal legislation called the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), which was originally enacted in 1974.
