Child Abuse Organizations

Overview

Child abuse is a focus of many organizations in both the private and public sector.
At the local level, child abuse is handled by a collection of community based organizations that work with the local social services agencies.
These local organizations are supported by state government agencies, that focus on children and families, and are the primary actors in the child welfare system.
There are a variety of national private organizations that support the child welfare network, such as the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds and Prevent Child Abuse America
In the federal government, child abuse is the responsibility of the Children’s Bureau, a sub-entity of the Administration for Children and Families under the Department of Health and Human Services

As a local library, most of your work on child abuse prevention will likely be with local CBO’s that are working to prevent child abuse, as well as with local social services and local divisions of the State Agency that oversees child and family health and services. The exact name of this agency will vary by state; however, every state has an agency for this.

For more information on the process of Child Abuse Reporting and Recover, see the Child Welfare Information Gateway

Table of Contents

Objectives and Goals
Where Do They Operate?
Services Offered
Constituents and Clients
Funding and/or Sources of Revenue
Staff
Leadership Structure
National and Regional Organizational Structure
Key Metrics Used
Key Terms
Statistics and Facts
Potential Partnership Ideas
Find Your Local Child Abuse Organization
Take a Colleague to Coffee

Objectives & Goals

A majority of the organizations that work with child abuse work to educate the public on child abuse and to try and prevent it from occurring.
Some of these agencies also work in the abuse reporting and recovery process by assisting those who have been abused and helping them to recover.

Libraries can serve in helping to prevent child abuse through educational efforts. Libraries can work with CBO’s to promote awareness and develop educational programs both for the general public on what is child abuse, how it can be prevented, and how they can help these organizations. Also libraries are great partners in the effort to educate those who work with children on what the signs of abuse are and what the reporting process is. A community could centralize their mandatory reporter education efforts around the library and make it the place where local government officials receive abuse education.

Scope of Services

A majority of CBO’s and local offices are focused on preventing abuse in the local community.
Most of the child abuse work is handled at the state level.

Services Offered

Some organizations, such as the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds and Prevent Child Abuse America work on the prevention side of child abuse through advocacy and education.
CBO’s also serve to educate the community and prevent child abuse whenever possible through advocacy and community education.
Prevent Child Abuse America also runs Healthy Families America, an organization that researches and supports the home visit model implemented on the local level by CBO’s and government agencies that responds to child abuse and helps in the recovery process.
Child Protection Services (CPS) serves as the primary agency overseeing the cases of abuse that are reported and coordinate the investigation, legal, and recovery efforts.
A variety of CBO’s assist in the recovery process by helping the family and child affected through counseling, support, education, and other services that are aimed at improving the situation.

Libraries will likely have the most success working with the local CHBO’s who assist in the child welfare process. They can serve as education centers and offer resources to help CBO’s that assist in the recovery process, such as books for children and educational materials for adults on the recovery and legal processes. It is worthwhile for the library to have some familiarity with CPS, especially the children’s librarians who can serve in the recovery process as well as reporters of suspected abuse.

Constituents & Clients

Researchers have found that poverty is a reliable indicator of child abuse.
Those who are homeless are more likely to be maltreated and undernourished.
80% of 21-year old child abuse victims meet the criteria for at least one psychological disorder

Many of the constituents of libraries, especially those that serve underserved communities, may be or are statistically likely to be victims of child abuse. This makes it very important for libraries to educate their communities on the topic in order to prevent and recognize child abuse. Additionally, libraries in underserved communities may have large populations of victims and can work to help these people

Funding and/or Sources of Revenue

Since CPS is a government agency, its funding is from tax dollars and the local and/or sate government budgets.
Local CBO’s receive funding from private donors and some government funding
National organizations receive a majority of their funding from donations and grants.
Some national organizations also function as associations and receive funding from membership dues.

Staff

Child Welfare Workers are employed by CPS to oversee the investigation and outcome of suspected abuse cases
CBO’s working in this area may also employ Child Welfare Workers, as well as a variety of staff that is typically found at CBO’s

Leadership Structure

Caseworkers for CPs report to supervisors who manage several caseworkers and handle the managerial aspects of the agency.
Within CBO’s, the staff reports to an executive director, or someone of similar title and function, as well as a board of directors.
When working with the CBO’s you will likely be working with the executive director to develop the partnership[p and might be working with other staff on an ongoing basis.

National Organizational Structure

Many of these organizations are members of the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention, which provides resources to help them be more effective in their work.
Additionally, many work with Prevent Child Abuse America on their home visit model and leverage the resources and training they provide.

Key Metrics Used

Number of children under the court’s jurisdiction
Number of children receiving in-home care and number receiving out of home care
Achievement of permanency – ratio of total children entering the system to those achieving permanent placement through reunification, adoption, or transfer of custody.
Time from entry into out of home care to achievement of permanency.

Libraries can partner with these organizations to help improve these metrics through education of victims and those who will be receiving custody.

Key Terms

See a glossary of child abuse related terms here.

Child Abuse Statistics

Potential Partnership Ideas

Working with your local child abuse organizations, children's librarians can be trained and educated on how to recognize abuse, as well as how they can aid in the recovery process and make the library a safe haven in the recovery process.
The library can create special programming for adults who are in the process of helping their children recover from abuse.
Libraries can help local organizations in their education and awareness efforts in the community by offering space and assistance for their programming.

Regional and Local Child Abuse Organizations

Find other organizations in your area here.

Take a Colleague to Coffee

Reach out to the CEO/Executive Director or of a local child abuse organization and invite them to coffee. Here are five questions you might ask your colleague who works at a child abuse organization to inspire conversation about how the public library and the child abuse organization might partner.

What part of the child abuse investigation and recovery process does your organization focus on? What are some of the unique challenges of this stage?
What types of educational programming does your organization put on? Who is the target audience of these programs?
What does your organization do to increase awareness?
What is the biggest challenge that your organization faces?
What modifications need to be made to typical children's programming for it to be effective for those recovering from abuse?

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