National Movement Weekly Update.

One of the many themes that arose in the Town Hall meetings held by the Movement during the past summer and fall was the importance of brain development on the subsequent academic success of children as well as their transition to adulthood. We wanted to share this today after reading the recent Policy Statement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding "Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Role of the Pediatrician: Translating Developmental Science into Lifelong Health," and the statement that "AAP is committed to leveraging science to inform the development of innovative strategies to reduce...toxic stress in young children and to mitigate their negative effects on the course of development..." Reading this our questions for you include: What role can we play in reducing the toxic stress that children are exposed to in our neighborhoods and communities? What innovative strategies to reduce toxic stress are being implemented where you live? And what strategies might be added? Please come to the National Movement for America's Children site to share your thoughts with us and others members from your state and if you're not sure what role you, your neighborhood or the Movement can play, please let us know so we can talk about that as well. Have a great week.

Prevent Child Abuse America and Massachusetts Citizens for Children in the Boston Globe.

We are excited to let you know that representatives from both Prevent Child Abuse America and Massachusetts Citizens for Children, the organization that houses Prevent Child Abuse Massachussets, were quoted in an article in the Boston Globe titled "After Penn State, states reconsider sex abuse laws." One reason we are especially excited, and appreciative, is that in the midst of an important discussion about the legal implications of cases like these, were we still given the opportunity to discuss how we need to prevent sex abuse before it even occurs in the first place.

Get Involved!

Here at Prevent Child Abuse America, we work to ensure the healthy development of children nationwide because we recognize that child development is a building block for community development and economic development. We need your help to do our work well, and there are many ways to get involved:

Volunteer at a local state chapter here.

Make an online, one-time donation here to help us provide information, education, and services to families and children and educate policymakers on the importance of preventing child abuse and neglect from ever occurring in the first place.

Become informed on the importance of home visitation services like our signature prevention program, Healthy Families America here.

Host a house party here to raise awareness for child abuse prevention (and have some fun at the same time!)

Learn more on our website here, blog here, or Facebook page here and share with friends

We’re so excited you’re here – thank you for joining us in our efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect before it ever occurs.

National Movement Weekly Update.

This past Friday, January 13th, was the 2012 National AMBER Alert Awareness Day and we wanted to highlight one line in particular from the Department of Justice's announcement recognizing the observance of the day and the impact of this initiative: "This unprecedented partnership between law enforcement, alert citizens, and the news media continues to be one of the most effective tools employed to protect children.” Reading this our questions for you include: Do you have examples that you can share of similar partnerships in your community? How can we make these kinds of partnerships the norm at both the Federal and local level? What role should the Movement play in achieving this? And what role might you play? Please come to the National Movement for America's Children site to share your thoughts with us and others members from your state and if you're not sure what role you or the Movement can play, please let us know so we can talk about that as well. Have a great week.

RE-ENERGIZE - RE-FOCUS - RECONNECT.

Share your passion for healthy child development and the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Join us at Awaken to Change - The National Conference for America’s Children, October 12 - 15, 2012, in beautiful Jacksonville, FL.

Top industry experts will present exceptional sessions on key topics:

Healthy Child Development

Moving the Movement - The National Movement for America’s Children

Advancing Public Policy

Message, Marketing and Corporate Responsibility

What’s Working and What We are Learning

For more information please go here.

SAVE THE DATE: The 2012 Wrigley Start Early Run. Grant Park. Chicago, Illinois. Saturday, April 21st. More details coming soon!

Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Advocate Rates Sandusky Media Coverage a “C.”

In a Ms. Foundation funded study released today on the early media coverage of the Penn State child sexual abuse case, "Breaking News on child sexual abuse: Early coverage of Penn State," the Berkeley Media Studies Group found that the coverage not only missed an opportunity to focus on prevention, but on the potential solutions for preventing child sexual abuse before it ever occurs. We believe that all adults play a role in preventing child sexual abuse, and given this, we hope that you will not only revisit our initial post here regarding our thoughts on the case and how we can all become better educated about this issue, but that you will also consider contacting the Prevent Child Abuse America in your state here to see how you might support their prevention efforts as well. 

National Movement Weekly Update.

With the new year upon us, we want to share with you how excited we are for all the good work we plan to do as a Movement in the coming year around ensuring all children have happy and healthy childhoods. We also want to let you know that we plan to tailor these weekly messages going forward to focus on the various themes participants raised in the town hall meetings we held across the country in 2011. These themes include among many others, the responsibility of adults to promote an environment free of sexual abuse, bullying as peer-to-peer abuse and the importance of brain development on the subsequent academic success of children. Finally, we encourage you to not only stay active on the National Movement for America’s Children site, but to encourage your friends, family, colleagues and neighbors to do so as well, so that we can keep building momentum and having an impact on the lives of children, their families and the neighborhoods they live in. Have a great week.