ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on child maltreatment prevention programs and activities provided throughout the United States, some of which are also available more globally. The material addresses some of the challenges related to establishing prevention programs in the area of child maltreatment, and highlights some of the difficulties related to recruiting participants for these programs. Child maltreatment prevention programming is presented from a public health/epidemiological framework, categorizing and focusing on specific factors related to both primary and secondary prevention efforts. Information about individual child maltreatment prevention programs such as The Period of Purple Crying, Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children, Healthy Families America, and the Nurse Family Partnership is presented, along with empirically based research support when available. The chapter ends with an appeal to reconsider our perspective regarding child welfare by taking a more universally proactive approach that focuses on the healthy functioning of all families.
