Formulating a Multidisciplinary Comprehensive Research Agenda for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment (Think Tank 1)

The goal of this think tank is to invite new, as well as established, players to incorporate fresh ideas in formulating a National Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Research Agenda for the field. Knowledge on child abuse and neglect prevention has grown dramatically; however, the field continues to lag behind other public health areas in prevention research, such as substance abuse. Recently, there have been at least three national efforts to identify, organize, and address pressing questions regarding child abuse and neglect, including the efforts of the CDC, Child Welfare, and the National Call to Action. Each of these efforts provides a unique organization of the issues, which may inadvertently create confusion in the field. In addition, efforts to date rely primarily on the input of experts within the child abuse and neglect field, ignoring the knowledge of direct-service providers, representatives of other disciplines, and parents themselves. Improving child abuse and neglect prevention efforts depends on setting a clear and focused path that has the support of the field as a whole.

This seminar will bring representatives of CDC, Child Welfare, ACF/ACYF, U.S. DHHS, and the National Call to Action together to better understand this important groundwork for a comprehensive research agenda. Representatives of each effort will form the core of our discussion panel. In addition, we will invite experts from the field of child abuse and neglect research, as well as other disciplines, to summarize their knowledge of the cumulative research on child abuse and neglect prevention. The seminar will facilitate an exchange of information across disciplines and among individuals, groups, and institutions so as to bring about new and innovative direction for this research agenda. Strategic discussion points will be presented within the session to encourage participants to consider and comment on key research issues raised by recent efforts, as well as the issues they consider most pressing in their own work on child abuse and neglect. A preliminary list of questions and models will be the initial.

We anticipate the final product of this pre-conference seminar will be a more comprehensive index of issues representing a national cross-section of the child abuse and neglect field and loosely prioritized by this group. Our long-term plan for the pre-conference seminar is to disseminate state-of-the-art information on the research agenda to seminar participants, as well as the field, for further input. In the year following the conference, we propose to hold a think tank on creating strategies for addressing the agenda designed to carry out the implementation through interagency collaborative efforts.

John Holton, Ph.D.
Nancy Peddle, Ph.D.
Kathryn Harding, M.A.
Prevent Child Abuse America
200 South Michigan Avenue
Suite 1700
Chicago, IL 60604

View the presentation:     (MS Word - 68 KB) or (PDF - 291 KB)

View the complete list of presenters.