Dr. Phil, Jessica Beagley, Healthy Child Development and the "Sniff Test."

Jessica Beagley from Anchorage, Alaska was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and neglect this week for her appearance on the Dr. Phil Show and the videotape she prepared that showed her disciplining her son with hot sauce. While we have commented on the use of hot sauce for discipline previously, and you can read that here, the case has taken a new twist this week because Jessica Beagley was not charged based on the form of discipline, but for preparing the video itself. We think this raises significant questions about the role and responsibility of media in the healthy development of children and in this vein, James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, not only commented on this aspect of the case in an interview with KTVA Alaska, which you can read here, but Prevent Child Abuse America also sent the below letter to the Dr. Phil Show. We are currently awaiting a response and will provide with an update when we receive one.


Dr. Phil Show
5482 Wilshire Boulevard #1902
Los Angeles, CA 90036

To Whom It May Concern,

I would like to personally commend the important work the Dr. Phil Show seeks to do on behalf of children and their families. It is clear to me that Dr. Phil enjoys a respected following who listens and seeks to learn from his guests and his personal insights.

My appreciation however does not extend to the show involving Jessica Beagley. The conviction of Jessica Beagley this week in Anchorage for misdemeanor child abuse even more strongly makes me want to ask how a segment like that could have made it to an audience. The form of discipline involved does not have a basis in research, the apparent parental motivation appears to be self-serving and does not consider the best interest of the child and quite frankly lacks any semblance of passing a “sniff test” for what should be approved as effective programming regarding children.

At Prevent Child Abuse America our position is that all people play some role in the healthy development of children. Research indicates that when adverse experiences happen in a child’s life they can result in life-long consequences, including chronic health problems, academic under-achieving, delinquent behavior, mental illness and substance abuse.

As a respected media program entrepreneur, I applaud your show’s overall education value; in this situation, I have to ask, what are the guidelines used by your producers that would allow such a video; why would a corporate sponsor be supportive of this type of show and what kind of oversight is provided to the producers to ensure this type of segment is not allowed again? Needless to say, I wonder why people would ever want to see something like this.

Finally, in light of the behavior displayed in this video we recommend that you review the mandatory child abuse and neglect reporting requirements for the state of California to make sure you are in compliance and train relevant staff

I look forward to speaking further with you about this story and the role you can play in positively impacting the lives of nation’s children. Thank you for your time and someone from Prevent Child Abuse America will follow-up with you next Friday, September 2, if I have not connected with you by then.

Sincerely,

James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO

Prevent Child Abuse America

"What Do WV Kids Really Need? 'Movement For Children' Aims to Find Out." National Movement for America's Children in Public News Service - WV.

James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America talks National Movement for America's Children with Public News Service - West Virginia here.

"Crowdsourcing for America's Children." National Movement for America's Children at AdAge.

James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America talks National Movement for America's Children and crowdsourcing at AdAge here.

"So Cute, So Hard on a Marriage" from The Wall Street Journal. A response from Prevent Child Abuse America.

On April 27, 2011The Wall Street Journal Online ran a piece titled, "So Cute, So Hard on a Marriage" by Andrea Petersen, about how after having a baby, men and women are unhappy in different ways and how there is a need to push for pre-emptive steps to address this. Prevent Child Abuse America applauds this article, has some additional thoughts on these "pre-emptive steps" and we want to share our response.


May 4, 2011

To the editor,

Your recent article “So Cute, So Hard on a Marriage,” presented a realistic overview of the stressors of parenting and how couples’ happiness can be impacted after the birth of a baby. Your focus on “pre-emptive” or prevention strategies for minimizing the stress and confusion parents of newborns can encounter also is refreshing.

As you indicate, there are a variety of innovative services available in communities across the country to support parents that deserve recognition and additional expansion by policymakers. Supporting parents of newborns is like building a house. Building a house is a step-by-step process beginning with a strong foundation. Just like a house, a strong foundation in children’s early years increases the probability of positive outcomes for those children and their parents. A weak foundation increases the odds of later difficulties.

Programs like you reference, as well as, home visiting programs such as Healthy Families America, and six other federally recognized evidence based programs, are designed to build that strong foundation by connecting families with community support and resources to help create positive environments for young children. When that strong foundation is built, children are able to develop their cognitive, social and emotional capacities, which all work together to create positive outcomes.

And these programs are a great return on investment: When we compare the effectiveness of home visiting programs with other intervention programs for families, the benefits far outweigh the initial investment. Investing in children and their families just makes sense. Supporting parents is the right thing to do. And we can all play a role in ensuring these things happen. Because it is less costly to invest in individuals and society now, than fix things later.

Regards,

James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO

Prevent Child Abuse America

Prevent Child Abuse America Unveils Inaugural Tel-e-thon for America’s Children.

National child abuse prevention organization to offer twist on traditional telethon by conducting 30-hour event via Causes application on Facebook

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO (April 18, 2011) – Prevent Child Abuse America, one of the nation’s leading child abuse prevention organizations, will unveil a new twist on a traditional telethons when it conducts the Tel-e-thon for America’s Children via the Causes application on Facebook. The event will take place from 12:00pm CDT on Tuesday, April 26, to 6:00pm CDT on Wednesday, April 27, in recognition of April’s designation as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Research shows that 90% of Americans are aware that child abuse is a serious issue. Therefore, the Tel-e-thon is designed to engage the public in a dialogue about child abuse prevention, highlight the many ways everyone can play a role – from getting educated on the issue to advocating for policy change to volunteering for charities that support children and families – and provide individuals with the opportunity to make one-time or recurring gifts to Prevent Child Abuse America. To achieve this, each hour (with the exception of 12:00 to 6:00am on April 27) will feature an interview with a special guest or a discussion topic for live chat on the Causes site on Facebook.

To participate in the Tel-e-thon, individuals should log into the Society Against Child Abuse page on the Causes application on Facebook, join if not a member and follow the conversation in the Bulletin section.

Among the special guests scheduled to participate are:

· Major motion picture director, James Gray (“Two Lovers,” “We Own the Night”)

· Co-author of the ground-breaking Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, Dr. Robert Anda

· Documentarian and child abuse survivor, Alexandra Dickson Gray

· Founder of the Promised Land Society and AwfulGrace.org, Bryan Specht

· Prevent Child Abuse America President and CEO James M. Hmurovich

· Prevent Child Abuse America Board Chair Christopher Greeley M.D., FAAP

· Prevent Child Abuse Florida Executive Director Christie Ferris

· Prevent Child Abuse Idaho Executive Director Roger Sherman

· Causes’ Director of Nonprofit Services Susan Gordon

· Christa Laukevicz and Evan Kalish, founders of the Society Against Child Abuse on Causes

· Recipients and providers of Healthy Families America direct program service

“For nearly 40 years Prevent Child Abuse America has been dedicated to healthy child development and child abuse prevention,“ said Hmurovich. “As we look to awaken the nation to the fact that we all have a role to play in preventing child abuse and neglect, we look forward to unveiling this new model and utilizing new technologies to continue engaging and activating people to take action on behalf of our nation’s children.”

New health care law includes unprecedented investment in early childhood home visitation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago, Illinois, March 23, 2010 – Prevent Child Abuse America applauds Congress and the Administration for enacting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Among the many provisions that benefit children, the legislation signed by the President today will dramatically improve the health and development of our nation’s children and families through the expansion of high-quality, voluntary, home visitation services, such as Healthy Families America.

“We have long known that home visiting is one of the most effective ways to improve child health and development,” said Jim Hmurovich, President & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America. “Now, for the first time, there is federal funding dedicated solely to expanding access to this valuable service.”

Research has shown that high-quality, voluntary early childhood home visitation programs lead to proven, positive outcomes for children and families and evaluations of Healthy Families America, Prevent Child Abuse America’s nationally recognized, signature home visitation program, have consistently found that program participants showed:

Reduced child maltreatment;

Decreased pre-term, low weight babies;

Increased utilization of prenatal care;

Increased access and use of primary care medical services;

Increased child immunization rates to improve health outcomes;

Increased school readiness;

Decreased dependency on public assistance and other social services; and

Improved parent-child interaction.

Because of this proven track record, evidence-based early childhood home visiting services have long enjoyed bipartisan support at the state and federal levels. Home visitation services across the country have struggled, however, with unreliable and unsustainable funding, a situation further exacerbated by the recent state of the economy. Overcoming this challenge has long been one of Prevent Child Abuse America’s top priorities.

The new law provides states with $1.5 billion over five years to fund the home visitation services that best suit the needs of their communities, while putting important parameters in place to assure quality of services.

“While no one piece of legislation can prevent child abuse and neglect,” said Hmurovich, “the enactment of the new state grant program for home visitation is an important step towards ensuring that all children have the opportunity to grow up in a healthy and nurturing environment.”

James M. Hmurovich interview with Public News Service.

James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO, Prevent Child Abuse America is speaking at the 2010 Strengthening Families Institute sponsored by the Idaho Children's Trust Fund in Boise, Idaho this week and he took a moment to record an interview with Public News Service to talk about prevention, public health and messaging and communities.

America's leading thinkers propose innovative new ideas for investing in America's children and the nation's future - Check it out.

A selection of America’s leading thinkers, including a Nobel laureate, award winning economists, researchers, and other notable experts have come together to provide 22 innovative new proposals for dramatically improving the lives of America’s children.

The publication, entitled Big Ideas for Children: Investing in Our Nation’s Future, is a compilation of creative solutions to once again increase the federal investment in children. The book has been published by First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

Included within Big Ideas are blueprints for major new initiatives to improve the health, well-being, education, and economic status of American children.

“The willingness of some of the most influential thought leaders in American to contribute to this compilation illustrates the universal recognition among them that children are not a major priority at the federal level, and that we must place a renewed focus on investments in our children,” said Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus. “As a nation, we are standing at a critical juncture. The upcoming presidential and Congressional elections present a critical opportunity to bring forth a new series of big ideas for public policies designed to improve the lives of children in the United States. Now is the time for policymakers to make dramatic changes in our national policy toward kids. A lack of investment at this critical juncture will ensure that our nation’s children will not be able to live up to their full potential.”

The compilation features reports from thought leaders such James M. Hmurovich, CEO & President, Prevent Child Abuse America who identifies the six basic steps necessary in order to promote a change in the manner we develop, implement and sustain public policies that focus on child and family well-being

Included in the book are proposals to assist families struggling to cope with rapidly increasing health and child care costs while gas and food prices surge, such as a large-scale expansion of the Child Tax Credit and increased investments in early childhood programs. In addition, comprehensive overhauls of our health, education, and child welfare, systems are proposed, to improve the well being and academic attainment of our nation's children.

"We are honored to have contributed to the development of Big Ideas for Children: Investing in Our Nation's Future from First Focus," says Hmurovich, "because we welcome any opportunity to discuss how we can change the way the nation thinks about the prevention of child abuse and neglect. There is nothing more important than our children being raised in loving, nurturing and stable environments and we want to thank First Focus for taking the lead on this important discussion."

Over the past five years, the federal government has seen investments in children decline while other discretionary spending has grown dramatically. These papers have been written in an effort to highlight the growing need to end the neglect and instead act in the interest of our nation's children in federal public policy.

Lesley added, “History has shown that significant achievements in federal policy for children typically happen in the first year after a president is elected. We believe this is our moment to raise the visibility of children and youth on the national policy front, address challenges, generate solutions, and formulate big ideas to respond to the needs of our children.”

Other proposals encompass various issue areas, including poverty, child health, early childhood, education, home and community, child welfare, and child safety. The book was published with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Casey Family Programs, The Joyce Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

For more information, please visit First Focus' website here.