Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Treatment; Proposed Research and Demonstration Priorities for Fiscal Years 1995 and 1996

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Treatment; Proposed

Research and Demonstration Priorities for Fiscal Years 1995 and 1996

AGENCY: National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN),

Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Administration

for Children and Families (ACF), Department of Health and Human

Services (HHS).

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Fiscal Years 1995 and 1996 Child Abuse and

Neglect Research and Demonstration Priorities for the Administration

for Children and Families.

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SUMMARY: The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) within

the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF) announces the

proposed priorities for research on the causes, prevention,

identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect; on

appropriate and effective judicial procedures; and for demonstration or

service programs and projects designed to prevent, identify, and treat

child abuse and neglect.

Comments on the proposed priorities and suggestions for other

topics are invited at this time. The actual solicitation of grant

applications will be published separately in the Federal Register, at a

later date, for each fiscal year, respectively. Solicitations for

contracts will be announced, at a later date, in the Commerce Business

Daily. Though these priority areas are proposed for Fiscal Years 1995

and 1996, NCCAN recognizes that, pending the reauthorization of the

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), these priorities may

be supplemented and amended accordingly. Comments and recommendations

about the reauthorization, though welcome, are not the focus of this

announcement. In addition, no proposals, concept papers, or other forms

of applications for funding should be submitted at this time.

Section 105(a)(2)(B) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment

Act of 1988 (CAPTA), as amended, requires the Department to publish

proposed priorities for research and demonstration activities for the

purpose of soliciting comments from the public, including individuals

knowledgeable in the field of child abuse and neglect prevention and

treatment. No acknowledgment will be made of the comments submitted in

response to this notice, but all comments received by the deadline will

be reviewed and given thoughtful consideration in the preparation of

the final funding priorities over the next two years. Copies of the

final program announcement will be sent to all persons who comment on

these proposed priorities.

DATES: In order to be considered, comments must be received no later

than December 27, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to: David W. Lloyd, Director,

National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, Attention: Comments/

Proposed Priorities--Research and Demonstration, P.O. Box 1182,

Washington, D.C. 20013. Comments may also be submitted via Internet:

comments%acyf.nccan%[email protected]>

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The proposed new research and demonstration priority areas have

been developed from recommendations from several sources.

The National Research Council (NRC), Commission on

Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (CBASSE), Panel on

Research on Child Abuse and Neglect report, Understanding Child Abuse

and Neglect (hereafter referenced as the NRC report) was produced by

CBASSE in response to a request from the Administration on Children,

Youth and Families (ACYF) in the Administration for Children and

Families (ACF) to undertake a comprehensive review and synthesis of

research on child abuse and neglect and to recommend research needs and

priorities for the remainder of the decade;

The American Psychological Society (APS) report on the

field in Human Capital Initiative: Report of the National Behavioral

Science Research Agenda Committee (APS Observer, February 1992);

The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) report on the

field, A Research Agenda for Child Welfare: A Special Issue of Child

Welfare, LXXIII, No. 5 (September-October, 1994);

Reviews of current literature on child abuse and neglect;

Findings from recently completed studies;

Suggestions received from the field;

Hearings and reports of the Advisory Board on Child Abuse

and Neglect;

Meetings held by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Child

Abuse and Neglect and its Research Committee; and

Other Departmental organizations and professional

associations.

These recommendations have been considered in light of the vision

and values of the Administration for Children and Families. The

priorities described below especially embody the vision of building

partnerships between the Federal government and individuals, families,

front-line service providers, communities, American Indian tribes and

Native communities, States and Congress to seek solutions that

transcend traditional agency boundaries. More responsive services can

be designed when gaps across services are bridged: when practitioners

and researchers work together to ask and answer questions that will

empower individuals to achieve active, healthy, productive lives in

strong, supportive communities. Prevention efforts, especially, will

have a positive impact on the quality of life and the development of

children.

Since 1975, NCCAN has funded hundreds of research and demonstration

projects addressing prevention, intervention, and treatment issues in

child abuse and neglect. The topics over these 19 years have spanned

the many and diverse interests of the field, the needs of public social

service agencies, and the private sector, providing seed money for some

efforts and platforms for others. Descriptions of these discretionary

activities are available from The Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and

Neglect Information, P.O. Box 1182, Washington, D.C. 20013 (1-800-394-

3366), hereafter referred to as the NCCAN Clearinghouse, in the

following volumes: Compendium of Discretionary Grants: Fiscal Years

1975-1991 (April 1992); NCCAN Discretionary Grants: Profiles for Fiscal

Year 1992 (June 1993); Profiles of Research and Demonstration Grants

Addressing Issues of Child Neglect (June 1993); Profiles of Research

Grants Funded by NCCAN: Fiscal Years 1988-1992 (March 1993); and

Emergency Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Services Program (Fiscal

Year 1991) (Revised April 1993).

In addition to projects funded under priority areas selected as a

result of this announcement, NCCAN intends to continue funding for:

The Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information;

The National Information Clearinghouse for Infants With

Disabilities and Life-Threatening Conditions;

The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS);

The Consortium for Longitudinal Studies of Child

Maltreatment;

The National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect; and

The project ``Measurement in Child Abuse and Neglect

Research: An Update and Critical Review.''

NCCAN is also actively pursuing Interagency Agreements to develop

collaborative research and demonstration activities with members of the

Inter-Agency Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect.

More detailed information on these continuing projects supported by

NCCAN as well as on other studies of child maltreatment are available

through the NCCAN Clearinghouse.

Since the amount of Federal funds available for new grants in FY

1995 and 1996 is limited, respondents are encouraged to recommend how

proposed issues should be prioritized.

The remainder of this document presents the proposed research and

demonstration priorities; it is organized according to the following

headings:

A. Proposed Research Priorities

1. Family Preservation and Family Support for Targeted CAN

Populations

2. Model Development for Centers of Excellence in Research

B. Proposed Demonstration and Service Priorities

1. Demonstration Models on Neglect

2. Guardian ad Litem Model Demonstration

C. Working Groups

1. Research Definitions

2. Ethics, Confidentiality, Informed Consent, and Reporting

D. Symposia

1. Domestic Violence and Child Abuse and Neglect

2. Prevention

II. Proposed Child Abuse and Neglect Research and Demonstration

Priorities for FY 1995 and 1996

A. Proposed Research Priorities

1. Research on Child Abuse and Neglect With a Focus on the Impact of

Community-Based Family Support and Family Preservation Programs on

Child Abuse and Neglect.

The research areas to be addressed in this priority are those that

will expand the current knowledge base, build on prior research,

contribute to practice, and provide insights into new approaches to the

prevention of child maltreatment and preservation of families (i.e.,

physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional maltreatment, or neglect) by

family support and family preservation services as defined by the newly

enacted Family Preservation and Family Support Services Program

(Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Subpart 2 of Title IV-B,

the Child and Family Services Program of the Social Security Act).

Congress has noted its interest in the outcomes and effectiveness of

this legislation. For definitions of these services, see the

legislation and Program Instructions. The Congressional intent of the

legislative definition was further clarified in the Conference

Committee Report.

Copies of the Family Preservation and Family Support legislation,

Program Instruction, and additional information about family support

and family preservation programs are available from the NCCAN

Clearinghouse--Child Welfare Desk (1-800-394-3366). Copies are also

available on the ACF electronic bulletin board system (1-800-627-8886).

States have reported to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data

System (NCANDS) that in 1992 their child protective service (CPS)

agencies received and referred for investigation approximately 1.9

million reports involving approximately 2.9 million children who were

the alleged victims of child abuse and neglect.

Over half of the reports were received from professionals in the

community, including educators, social service professionals, health

professionals, and representatives of law enforcement and justice

agencies. Following investigations conducted by CPS agencies, nearly 1

million children, approximately 39 percent of those reported, were

found to be substantiated or indicated victims of child maltreatment.

Based on data from 37 States, it is estimated that approximately 18

percent of children who were the substantiated victims of maltreatment

were removed from the home. Extrapolating this ratio to all States, it

suggests that in 1992 an estimated 82 percent (800,000) substantiated

victims of child maltreatment remained at home, where they may have

received further services. These findings also suggest that, in 1992,

61 percent of those cases reported for child abuse and neglect are

unsubstantiated and those children also remain in their homes. At this

time, it is not known whether any follow-up, family preservation, or

family support services are available for unsubstantiated cases to

prevent the potential for future abuse and reporting.

Given this lack of knowledge about these families, NCCAN is

particularly interested in four populations and four outcomes. The

proposed research studies should examine one or more of the populations

to examine service outcomes of family support and family preservation

services. The first group consists of families who receive family

support services, but have had no previous contact with child

protective services, otherwise known as families who are not ``in the

system.'' The second group consists of families who have been referred

to child protective services, whose cases were unsubstantiated or

unfounded, but were found to need services, and were referred to family

support programs. The third group consists of families who have been

``in the system,'' whose child abuse or neglect cases were

substantiated, who received family preservation or family support

services, and whose cases are now closed. The fourth, and final,

population would be those families whose child abuse or neglect cases

have been substantiated, whose cases are ``open,'' whose children have

not been removed, and who are receiving family preservation services.

Outcomes of interest to NCCAN are: ``case-finding'' (families who

have not been previously referred to CPS but, through participation in

family support services, are discovered to be appropriate for

reporting); the impact of family support and/or family preservation

services on prevention; on recidivism; and on removal or non-removal of

children. These four outcomes suggest a variety of research questions,

as well as descriptive and/or experimental designs.

Applicants should plan and design the proposed studies in

collaboration with State and/or local CPS/IV-B agencies as well as

community-based organizations (CBO) providing family support services

for a CPS/IV-B agency (e.g., Family Resource Center, Head Start Center,

non-custodial father program). Comments are also solicited regarding

the suitability of denying consideration to applications that do not

achieve and document this collaboration.

2. Model Development for Centers for Excellence in Research

NCCAN is interested in funding one or more multi-disciplinary

Centers for Excellence in Child Abuse and Neglect Research. These

Centers would be partnerships among university and State or community-

based agencies that provide child welfare services, including mental

health services. Special consideration will be given to locating at

least one such Center at a historically black college or university.

All proposals submitted for this priority must describe and defend the

model proposed for the Center. The primary goal of these Centers is to

foster collaboration, building on models used in medical research at

the National Institutes of Health and the Preventive Intervention

Research Center (PIRC) that successfully focused efforts on cancer and

diabetes. Models are described below (for more details, see NRC, pp.

358-359). At this time, NCCAN does not endorse any particular model.

Comments are solicited regarding the merits of requiring that models

proposed under this announcement make provisions for multi-disciplinary

research that include social work, law, nursing, medicine, psychology,

sociology, social anthropology, and education and demonstrate respect

for cultural diversity and provide opportunities and services with

cultural sensitivity.

Since 1982, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), has

supported a number of Preventive Intervention Research Centers (PIRC).

The PIRCs were developed, in part, as a response to several major

problems faced similar to those currently being experienced by the

field of child abuse and neglect. The goal of a PIRC is to provide a

productive research environment where teams of investigators from a

variety of disciplines interact and develop a program focused on the

promotion of mental health and the prevention of mental and behavioral

disorders and dysfunctions. Historically, the Centers provide support

for a set of interrelated research projects and core or infrastructure

functions. For more details about this model, see the NIMH Program

Announcement PAR 94-038 (January, 1994).

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, of the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), funds 10 Injury

Control Research Centers. The Centers are multi-disciplinary and each

is housed in a university. Each Center focuses on a unique aspect of

injury control appropriate to its technical expertise and community

setting. The Centers conduct applied research; provide opportunities

for faculty development; provide training for community practitioners,

other scientists, and students; provide technical assistance;

disseminate findings and materials; and promote specific prevention

initiatives relevant to their research findings and community needs.

Activities undertaken by the proposed Centers for Excellence in

Research on Child Abuse and Neglect would include but not be limited

to:

Guidance and management of graduate and post-graduate

Research and Medical Research Fellowships in Child Abuse and Neglect;

Research opportunities for new researchers/career

development (faculty);

Support for the development of minority researchers;

Training for professionals which replicates, adapts, and

builds on the culturally relevant needs assessment and curriculum tools

including, but not limited to, those developed under an NCCAN grant

(#90-CA-1443) by the People of Color Leadership Institute (POCLI).

These products are available through the NCCAN Clearinghouse (1-

800-394-3366); and

Development and piloting of new methodologies and

measures, or refinement of existing measures, for research and

evaluation in child abuse and neglect. Development activities must

include testing the validity and reliability of new and/or existing

instruments with new populations and across cultures.

The themes for Centers for Excellence should include

identification, prevention and treatment, with a special focus on, but

not limited to, neglect, cultural sensitivity, disability, and training

about child abuse and neglect.

B. Proposed Demonstration and Service Priorities

1. Demonstration Models on Neglect

The intent of this priority is to fund service models for the

prevention of neglect. These models should make provision for both the

early identification of families at risk of neglect and the

identification of chronically neglectful families, and neglected

children (in placements or reunified) who may be in need of special

services.

Designing services for families that neglect children is a

challenge. Both ecological and psychosocial factors influence the

manifestation of neglect. The many differences and distinctions among

neglectful families, including cultural distinctions, dictate a service

model based on careful assessment of the family and services designed

specifically for them.

The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect focuses on the

ecological aspects. The Advisory Board's report, Neighbors Helping

Neighbors, (1993), recommends several strategies for strengthening

neighborhoods and improving the quality of support available to

families within their own communities, as a national strategy for the

protection of children. Their recommendations include: involving

residents as participants, planners and managers of neighborhood

services; the encouragement of foster grandparent programs; empowerment

through home ownership; the implementation of prevention zones by

public/private partnerships; and the funding of more family resource

centers.

The importance of neighborhoods in combatting neglect is also

emphasized in the 1994 Kids Count Data Book (The Annie E. Casey

Foundation, pp. 4-7).

The report issued by the National Research Council (NRC, 1993, pp.

50-52) also highlights the ecological aspects. The report suggests that

``dysfunctional families are often part of a dysfunctional

environment'' (p. 50). Its recommendations for intervention programs

include: home-based approaches (p. 264), impacts on socio-economic

conditions (p. 134), and impacts on social isolation (p. 135).

Recent research focuses on the psychosocial foundations of neglect.

DiLeonardi (1993), for example, reported that ``family empowerment, the

use of groups to develop social support networks, and the assistance of

volunteers or paraprofessionals as home visitors or parent aides,

appear to be beneficial'' (p. 557) to prevent neglect among families

reported for neglect. The study concluded that families were able to

reverse their neglectful child-rearing patterns with this model of

services.

Gaudin, Zuravin, and Polansky also found that family dynamics

explains ``a significant portion of the variance in quality of

parenting/neglect'' (Gaudin, 1993). Depression and substance abuse, for

example, have been suggested as powerful forces in family dynamics and

mediators of neglect.

In June of 1993, NCCAN sponsored a symposium on chronic neglect.

The issues addressed included consensus building on definitions,

strategies for change through empowerment, research, treatment and

policy topics. The Proceedings from this symposium will be available

from the NCCAN Clearinghouse. A number of studies, referred to in the

Proceedings, suggest that programs for neglectful families based on

building interpersonal strengths, fostering individual empowerment, and

ensuring the provision of basic human needs in a safe environment were

most likely to improve parenting, self-esteem and coping ability among

the neglectful population.

Recent work by the Kansas Cooperative Extension Service (Smith,

C.A., Cudaback, D., Goddard, H.W., & Myers-Walls, J., 1994, National

Extension Parent Education Model) may provide a useful guide for

designing the parent education component of a comprehensive psycho-

social model. Parent education can help parents in many ways including:

learning to care for themselves, managing personal stress, managing

family resources; providing children with developmentally appropriate

opportunities and learning appropriate disciplinary techniques;

maintaining developmentally appropriate expectations of children;

improving communication skills, building social support systems; and

learning to access community, social service, and family support

resources.

Projects may either present innovative approaches or be

replications of previously evaluated and promising models. Proposed

models should build on previous research and NCCAN-sponsored Symposium

findings and incorporate mental health, parenting education components

and family support services. They should collect data on the costs and

potential cost-benefits of providing the proposed services.

These projects may be based on one of two types of models described

above: either the ecological, i.e., neighborhood model, or the psycho-

social model. If a project chooses the ecological model, it must be

aggressive in its outreach to the community; conversely, if a project

chooses to follow the psycho-social model, it must include home-based/

family support services, parenting education, and mental health

services in its approach to addressing neglect.

NCCAN intends to fund up to ten demonstration projects on neglect

(five in each model). Structurally, these projects are intended to

function cooperatively as a cluster. Participation in a cluster affords

the grantees the greatest opportunities to cooperate and collaborate.

NCCAN will assist this cooperation by providing assistance through a

technical assistance contract, encouraging meetings to develop use of

common evaluation criteria, data elements, and measures to maximize

comparability of evaluation findings. Evaluations will be required of

each demonstration project. Priority will be given to those who provide

evidence of a partnership between CPS/IV-B agencies which provide

Family Preservation/Family Support services and community-based mental

health/family resource centers.

2. Guardian ad Litem Model Demonstration

Since 1975, the Congress has required States to provide a guardian

ad litem in every case of alleged child abuse or neglect that results

in a judicial proceeding as a condition of eligibility for a grant

under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). Though

there are enough attorneys in every jurisdiction to meet the needs of

children for legal representation as attorneys or guardians ad litem

(GAL), many States do not have funds to pay the attorneys, and most

abused and neglected children and their parents are unable to afford

attorneys' fees. As a result, in many locations, the juvenile court

depends upon attorneys to represent children on a voluntary (pro bono)

basis.

However, there are not enough attorneys who chose to provide free

representation to children, especially since some proceedings are

complicated and cases may last for 21 years. The Court-Appointed

Special Advocate (CASA) movement developed in the 1980's and has spread

throughout the nation to address these unmet needs. These well-trained

volunteers help meet the need for representation of child clients. The

impact on the outcomes for children of the GAL and CASA services is not

known (NRC, p. 273).

In 1988, the Research, Demonstration and Evaluation Branch,

Division of Program Evaluation, Administration on Children, Youth and

Families conducted a study of the Guardian ad litem system. The report

indicated that no single GAL model studied (Private Attorney, Staff

Attorney, and CASA) was consistently superior to the others across five

GAL roles (fact-finding and investigation, legal representation,

negotiation/mediation, monitoring, and resource brokering). The

findings also suggest that an optimal approach may be a ``mixed model''

and involve having a GAL who possesses, or has access to, the expertise

and resources of attorneys, lay volunteers, and caseworkers to perform

the broad range of functions and services contained in the definition

of the child advocate (Final Report on the Validation and Effectiveness

Study of Legal Representation through Guardian ad Litem, #105-89-1727).

The ``mixed model'' uses a combination of attorneys, volunteers,

and/or trained staff members to perform the broad range of functions

and services, resources and expertise, for child advocacy. The intent

of this priority is for a demonstration project of this ``mixed model''

to explore, in greater detail, service delivery with this approach. If

this ``mixed model'' is not currently in place, resources might be

added on to an existing GAL representation model for this

demonstration.

Based on four broad recommendations made in the report, the

demonstration should design, justify, implement, and evaluate:

A prototype for a formal, national system of GAL training,

standards, and certification employed with a ``mixed model'' design;

Recommendations for court-implemented formal terms of

appointment, descriptions, and supervision of the GAL role with a

``mixed model'' design;

Standards for caseload size that maximize effective and

ethical representation within a ``mixed model'' design; and

Estimations of the magnitude of resources required and

costs of a ``mixed model'' design with selected cases. Applicants must

establish working relationships with the appropriate local juvenile

court system and child welfare agency and demonstrate cognizance of the

positions and activities of national organizations (e.g., the National

Association of the Counsel for Children, the National Court Appointed

Special Advocates Association, and the ABA Center on Children and the

Law).

C. Working Groups

The NCCAN proposes to establish two working groups during FY 1995

and/or 1996. The working groups would be composed of less than ten

experts, chosen by the Commissioner in consultation with NCCAN and the

field, and less than 6 Federal representatives representing those

stakeholder agencies participating in the Inter-Agency Task Force on

Child Abuse and Neglect and the Interagency Research Committee. The

working groups would meet several times over the course of a year in

person and by telephone conference calls, with technical assistance

provided through a contractor, to plan symposia (for the following

fiscal year), identify appropriate ``next steps,'' and produce one or

several working papers on selected topics. Two topics are proposed

here.

Research Definitions: Creating Consensus for Research

Purposes.

Researchers acknowledge, and the NRC report confirms, that the

quality of information available to us for improving practice and

informing policy about child abuse and neglect is hampered by the lack

of agreement in current research definitions of abuse, neglect,

intensity, and other characteristics of maltreatment. NCCAN will be

providing assistance to the field by sponsoring and co-sponsoring

efforts to standardize definitions of data collection categories and

measurable attributes common to maltreatment participants and

situations. Considerable collaboration through the Interagency Task

Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, Interagency Research Committee is

being pursued. Potential products of these activities include working

paper(s) of standard data terms, behavior-driven operational

definitions and parameters. (For additional information on this topic,

see the NRC report, pp. 62-63.)

Ethics, Confidentiality, Informed Consent, and Reporting:

Issues for the Research Community.

Researchers struggle alone or in small groups with the

ramifications of the research process. Some are unclear about their

obligations to report disclosures of abuse or neglect in research

situations. Researchers also are of varied opinions about:

Inquiring directly of young children about abuse and

neglect;

Reporting families to systems where services are

unavailable or may be punitive; and

Providing treatment services within their projects

designed for research.

With a working group, NCCAN intends to provide assistance to the

field in cooperation with the Inter-Agency Task Force by providing a

forum for the development of consensus on ethical issues as recommended

in the NRC report. (For details, see NRC, ``Ethical and Legal Issues in

Child Maltreatment Research,'' pp. 324-336.) Background papers could

include working papers on legal ethical issues, treatment issues, and

reporting issues. Products could include: policy recommendations for

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), policy guidelines for grantees and

others conducting research in child abuse and neglect, and (pending the

cooperation of a professional association or journal) a summary

monograph or special journal issue publication. Coordination with the

NCCAN Clearinghouse project on State statutes would be required.

D. Symposia

In addition to the above activities, NCCAN proposes to convene

symposia in FY 1995 and 1996 with selected experts on subject areas of

critical concern to the field of child abuse and neglect. The selection

of topics for the symposia will focus on issues in which some research

and demonstration efforts have occurred but for which there may be no

synchronized or congruous direction.

The purpose of each symposium is to review what is known to the

field, but needs further exploration, and to identify areas about which

little is known and which require closer examination. The symposia

should result in recommendations for multi-year strategies for further

exploring some topics and for identifying new areas for examination.

Comments are requested on the following symposia topics which NCCAN

proposes to address in FY 1995 or 1996:

Domestic Violence and Child Abuse and Neglect

Studies of domestic violence indicate that child abuse and neglect

frequently occur within families where there is violence between the

adults (Strauss, Gelles and Steinmetz, 1980; Walker, 1985; Stark and

Flitcraft, 1985, 1988; Bowker, 1988; McCloskey and Koss, 1992). There

is also a growing awareness that children who witness physical violence

between their parents are at risk of emotional abuse and neglect

(Rosenbaum and O'Leary, 1981; Goodman and Rosenberg, 1987; Crites and

Coker, 1988).

In the 1980's NCCAN supported demonstration projects to provide

services to children whose mothers are in domestic violence shelters,

to train clinicians to identify both domestic violence and child abuse

in families in a hospital setting, to prevent both domestic violence

and child abuse. NCCAN also supported a research project on psychiatric

and behavioral consequences for children of battered women during this

period.

Programs that train child welfare practitioners in the clinical

issues of domestic violence or vice versa, and programs that link

domestic violence shelters and child welfare agencies have been created

in a number of communities.

In 1993, NCCAN planned the Tenth National Conference on Child Abuse

and Neglect in conjunction with the First National Family Violence

Conference so that participants could attend both conferences during

the same week. Moreover, each conference contained presentations about

the relationship between family violence and child abuse and neglect.

In June 1994, the Ford Foundation funded a meeting on ``Domestic

Violence and Child Welfare: Integrating Policy and Practice for

Families'' at the Wingspread Center, Racine Wisconsin. The meeting

identified existing and potential projects and initiatives that

integrate domestic violence and family preservation clinical issues,

and that integrate an awareness of domestic violence concerns into

child protective services programs and policies.

In collaboration with the Family Violence Prevention and Services

Program in the Office of Community Services, NCCAN proposes to conduct

one or more working meetings with national experts to build upon the

work of the June 1994 meeting and previous programmatic efforts. The

goals of the meeting(s) are to identify and refine further programmatic

initiatives and policy directions that promote the safety and well-

being of all family members.

Prevention

In 1991, NCCAN sponsored a national child maltreatment prevention

symposium. The Proceedings of that meeting (DePanfilis and Birch, Eds.)

are available through the NCCAN Clearinghouse (1-800-394-3366). More

than 100 invited participants, researchers and practitioners, took part

in five separate work groups. Each considered what had been done to

prevent child maltreatment, identified successful efforts, and examined

the factors that lead to success in each of five areas: preventing

sexual abuse, preventing maltreatment in substance abusing families,

preventing neglect, changing public attitudes, examining the effects of

neighborhood environments, and improving parenting in high-risk

families.

The symposium participants made 18 recommendations for future

research which helped shape subsequent priority area announcements,

meeting agenda, and policy. NCCAN believes that, at the 5-year mark

another symposium would be beneficial.

In addition to the topics cited above, practitioners and

researchers are encouraged to propose other relevant subjects for

symposia deliberations.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Number 93.670, Child

Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Treatment)

Dated: October 17, 1994.

Olivia A. Golden,

Commissioner, Administration on Children, Youth and Families.

[FR Doc. 94-26356 Filed 10-24-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4184-01-P