Defending Childhood Recommendations: Home visiting services

Attorney General Eric Holder affirms that children’s exposure to violence is nothing less than a national crisis. With this public health issue comes serious ramifications for the future of our country and the young men and women who will soon be called upon to build that future. 

In response to these troubling statistics and others, Holder launched the Defending Childhood Initiative in 2010, which has since resulted in a report on prevalence and recommendations. Throughout the month of July we’ll take a closer look at some of the recommendations, what is being done and what you can do to help.

One of the Task Force’s recommendations is to “expand access to home visiting services for families with children who are exposed to violence, focusing on safety and referral to services.”

Currently, there are several different early childhood home visiting models, all of which provide services designed to improve maternal and child health, early cognitive and emotional development, and family safety and stability, including family violence prevention.  As a result, the Affordable Care Act (2010) included provisions to support America’s Healthy Futures Act, a $1.5 billion, five-year national initiative to support maternal infant and early childhood home visitation programs.In addition to providing funds to support these services, the legislation also included new benchmark requirements for States. One such benchmark requires home visitation programs to measure a reduction in “crime or domestic violence.”

Defending Childhood Recommendations: Identification

Attorney General Eric Holder affirms that children’s exposure to violence is nothing less than a national crisis. With this public health issue comes serious ramifications for the future of our country and the young men and women who will soon be called upon to build that future.

In response to these troubling statistics and others, Holder launched the Defending Childhood Initiative in 2010, which has since resulted in a report on prevalence of childhood exposure to violence and recommendations to address it. Throughout the month of July we’ll take a closer look at some of the recommendations, what is being done and what you can do to help.

“The first crucial step in protecting our children is to identify and provide timely and effective help to those who already are being victimized by violence.”

— Defending Childhood Task Force Report

One of the recommendations of the Task Force is to “ensure that children exposed to violence are identified, screened and assessed.”

To reach this goal, it is crucial that staff serving children and families have the knowledge and skills needed to understand, recognize and address the impact of victimization and traumatic experiences on children.

Building strong children

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
— Frederick Douglass

As we’ve shown throughout the month, child abuse and sexual assault can have a lasting negative impact on children. Studies have shown that children exposed to this violence can become vulnerable to experiencing or perpetrating other violence.

To wrap-up Child Abuse Prevention and Sexual Assault Awareness month, we wanted to highlight a growing awareness campaign started by Prevent Child Abuse America.

The American Tobacco Campus. The tenants, local small businesses, and management partnered with Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina to plant 1,000 pinwheels, the largest pinwheel garden in the state.
-- Courtesy of Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina

In many communities across the country, gardens of blue pinwheels have popped up this month. Since 2009, more than 900,000 pinwheels have been displayed across the country as part of Pinwheels for Prevention.