Host a Party. Have Fun. Talk Prevention. Raise Money. Join Us For House Party Weekend!

Prevent Child Abuse America invites YOU to participate in a series of events coast–to–coast to raise awareness of and support our mission.

Throughout the year, supporters across the nation will gather in homes, restaurants, clubs, campuses and places of worship to have fun and take action for children.

Where? Nationwide.

PRIVATE PARTIES
Hosted by individuals for friends and family—our goal is to have 150 parties, engaging 3,000 attendees

COMMUNITY EVENTS
Block parties, neighborhood suppers and community concerts

PROMOTIONS BY BUSINESS (bars, restaurants, retailers, et al)
Comprises coupon promotions, percentage of sales, and similar activities, that may extend throughout the year

Why? The House Party Weekend is an opportunity for thousands of people across the nation to share the good news that we CAN prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation’s children – whoever and wherever we are.

How Does It Work? It’s fun, and as simple as you want it to be:

• Hosts will plan and schedule a party on the designated weekend. Our online toolkit will help.

• The online toolkit comprises a sample invitation, party ideas, documentation of tax-exempt status, information about Prevent Child Abuse America for guests to take home, talking points for a brief presentation to your guests, and a video you can show your guests during your party.

• Hosts will set a fundraising goal, and invite their guests at a specific price point. For example, a host might plan an elegant dinner party for 12, and ask for donations of $250 per person, to reach a goal of $2500. With the same goal, another host might prefer an afternoon of college football on campus for 250 friends, with a donation of $10 per person.

• Hosts underwrite all costs associated with the party – Prevent Child Abuse America will credit party expenses as in-kind donations.

• Hosts will be able to set up their own website, send electronic invitations, track their guest list online and allow their guests to pay online by credit card. Guests will also be able to pay by check to Prevent Child Abuse America. Prevent Child Abuse America will provide acknowledgments and receipts for tax purposes to all guests, but hosts will be able to send electronic "thank yous" to guests immediately after registering.

• CELEBRATE – This is a year long opportunity with special emphasis around the weekend of October 23 - 25 where parties will happen throughout the weekend and throughout the country. Prevent Child Abuse America provides all of the tools to help you invite, track and thank your guests. All you have to do is throw the party!

• Hosts will be asked to upload and share party pictures to our Shutterfly account, and to submit all receipts and any donations collected on-site to Prevent Child Abuse America.

Host a party!
Register your party.

Keep updated via our Facebook Group, Twitter, our Blog, or our actofgood.org page.

Can't host a party? No problem. Have a virtual party where you invite your friends to tweet or send you a message on Facebook. You can still raise money and awareness without having a party, just make sure to register your "virtual" party at housepartyweekend.org.

SO GET INVOLVED!!!
Our goal is to have 400 parties taking place across the country between now and the weekend of October 23, the official House Party Weekend, and to raise $40,000 that will help build awareness, provide education to new and expectant parents, influence federal and local legislation around prevention strategies, and inspire hope to everyone involved in the effort to prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation's children.

“A Hand to Hold Onto” surveys American Indian/Alaska Native young adults nationwide on victimization of children in Indian Country.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

An historic project will be launched in Indian Country in June. A trio of nonprofit and educational organizations has created a research project in order to better reflect the nature of child abuse and other types of victimization across all of Indian Country—a survey that has never been attempted before—with project input from young Native leaders along the way.

The survey project, titled “A Hand to Hold Onto,” is managed by the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), the Calumet campus of Purdue University, and Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America). The project’s goal is to survey 1,000 young adults about victimization, its consequences, and protective factors they experienced prior to age 18. A separate survey about the perceived scope of victimization and juvenile delinquency in their communities will be asked of adults, caregivers, tribal elders, and tribal leaders. The data will provide a clearer picture of child abuse and victimization and better inform tribal communities and child welfare advocates in order to improve programs and services for youth and families.

Dr. Kathleen Fox, NICWA director of research, said, “This project was shaped by tribal youth who reviewed the survey questions and even tested the survey drafts, and gave input on how to best reach survey participants.”

“The National Congress of American Indians’ youth leadership learned about the project and provided us with direction. Even the name of the project comes from a poll that was answered by Native youth across the country,” she said.

Youth, in order to be survey participants, must be between 18 and 25 years of age, of American

Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) descent, and willing to complete the online survey, which takes approximately thirty minutes. The survey is anonymous and participant’s answers cannot be linked back to the person. A $10 Amazon.com Gift Card is provided to each survey participant, limited to one per person. Information about the survey is available at the following link. The survey begins mid-June and will continue through July 2010.

Patricia Carter (Nez Perce), NCAI Youth Ambassador and NICWA board member, presented a briefing paper about the project to the NCAI youth leadership at the national convention in Palm Springs, California, last October. She emphasized the opportunity for youth to contribute directly to the project’s goals.

“You can speak the truth about these issues—how many times have we really been asked? And how many times can we, Native youth, directly help what resources our communities receive?” Carter said.

"By launching this national survey of American Indian young people and how best to serve their needs and those of their families," said James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, "this project is laying the groundwork for change across our nation. Every day we see growing interest and excitement and by partnering with the National Indian Child Welfare Association and Purdue University Calumet, we've brought together a wealth of knowledge and expertise that we feel will make a real impact in the lives of children, their families and the communities they live in."

PROJECT PARTNERS

NICWA is a national nonprofit and the most comprehensive source of information on AI/AN child welfare and works on behalf of AI/AN children and families. You can visit the above link or call (503) 222-4044 for more information.

PCA America’s mission to “prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation’s children” includes all forms of abuse and neglect, whether physical, sexual, educational, or emotional. You can visit the above link or call (312) 663-3520.

The Institute for Social and Policy Research (ISPR) at Purdue University Calumet is an interdisciplinary research organization involved in doing applied research related to social, health, and education issues. You can visit the above link or you can call (219) 989-3145.

FACTS ABOUT VICTIMIZATION IN INDIAN COUNTRY

From the Department of Justice:

The rate of victimization of AI/AN persons is double that of all races.

AI/AN youth age 17 or under have an alcohol violation rate nearly double that of all races.

AI/AN experience one violent crime for every 10 residents age 12 or older.

From the literature:

Seventy-four percent of youth in custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons are AI/AN; this is an increase of 50% since 1994 (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2008).

In several states, AI/AN youth make up from 29% to 42% of all youth in secure confinement (Guilfoyle, M., 2003).

Incarcerated AI/AN youth are much more likely to be subjected to the harshest treatment in the most restrictive environments (Youth Law Center, 2003).

The suicide rate for AI/AN juveniles (57 per 1 million) is almost twice the rate for White juveniles and the highest for any race (Youth Violence Research Bulletin, March 2004).

Cultural pride and identification has a positive effect on Native youth and is associated with:

Increased school success (Journal of American Indian Education)
Lower rates of alcohol and drug use (The Journal of Primary Prevention)
Higher self-esteem (Social Work Research)

Contact NICWA for more information:

Kristy Alberty, Executive Communications Manager

503.222.4044, ext. 133

We want to hear from you!

As someone who follows the work of Prevent Child Abuse America via our various social media platforms, we would like to ask for your help with an exciting new project. To better understand our followers' interest in child abuse and neglect prevention, Prevent Child Abuse America's programs and initiatives, and how social media can impact real world social causes and organizations such as ours, we would like to invite you to complete this online survey. It should take you no more than 15 to 20 minutes to complete and your answers will be completely anonymous. This is your chance to impact healthy child development and child abuse prevention in communities nationwide. Your feedback is very important, so please take a few minutes to complete this survey. It will be available from now until 5:00pm ET on Friday, July 9. Thank you very much!

Save the Date! The 2010 Kick-Off For Kids dinner which benefits Prevent Child Abuse America and the Tommie Harris Foundation is September 10th.

Native America Calling, the National Indian Child Welfare Association and the Tribal Youth Survey Project.

The national Tribal Youth Survey Project is a participatory research project to increase our knowledge of child victimization, juvenile delinquency, suicide and mental health, and protective and risk factors among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth. Prevent Child Abuse America is the fiscal agent for the project which is funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Project and our partners are the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and Purdue University Calumet. Terry Cross, who is the Executive Director and Founder of NICWA, and a former Prevent Child Abuse America Board Member, along with Youth Ambassador Tricia Carter, was recently interviewed about the project on the radio show Native America Calling. If you would like to listen to the interview and learn more about the project please go to the following link and scroll down to the episode titled Kids Witnessing Violence which was originally aired on May 25, 2010.