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School-Based Child Maltreatment Programs: Synthesis of Lessons Learned

Series: Grantee Lessons Learned

Author(s):   Children's Bureau (DHHS), Washington, DC.

Year Published:  2003

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You are in section: Table of Contents 1 - General Service Approaches… 2 - Lessons Learned 3 - Conclusion Appendix A - Project Information Appendix B - Contact Information

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This synthesis was made possible by the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The conclusions discussed here are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views or policies of the funding agency. Publication does not in any way constitute an endorsement by the Department of Health and Human Services. Suggested citation: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau (2003). School-Based Child Maltreatment Programs: Synthesis of Lessons Learned. Washington, DC.

Schools provide a unique environment for identifying child maltreatment and providing prevention and intervention services. Due to their sustained contact with children, teachers and other school personnel have extensive opportunities to observe children's behaviors, socio-emotional functioning, academic achievement, and cognitive development. Schools also have access to parents through activities such as parent-teacher conferences, Parent-Teacher Association meetings, and other events that encourage parent involvement in their children's schools. In addition, schools are often a focal point for community activities and concerns.

In Fiscal Year 1997, the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN), Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, provided 3-year grants to develop and implement demonstration projects that address child maltreatment identification, prevention, and treatment in collaboration with preschool, elementary, and secondary school systems. This synthesis, based on an evaluation of the final reports of 11 grantees¹, describes the demonstration projects and some of the key lessons learned about how child maltreatment prevention and intervention efforts can be enhanced through the involvement of a school or school system. The projects identified strategies that improved outcomes for children by:

• Facilitating collaboration with schools.
• Enhancing teacher, parent, and child knowledge and skills pertaining to child maltreatment.
• Enlisting school staff in efforts to prevent child maltreatment and intervene when children are at risk for, or are victims of, maltreatment.

Children's Bureau demonstration projects test new, distinctive approaches for service delivery, or whether a service that has proven successful in one setting can work in a different context. A demonstration project must:

• Develop and implement an evidence-based model; or replicate a successfully evaluated program model.
• Use multiple measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the model.
• Produce detailed procedures and materials that may be used to guide replication or testing of strategies, practices, and programs in other settings.

As such, the evaluations of these programs provide information that can help guide organizations wishing to implement evidence-based child maltreatment identification, prevention, and intervention services in collaboration with schools. Detailed information about each demonstration project is available in Appendix A. Contact information for each grantee is listed in Appendix B. The grantees' final reports are available from Child Welfare Information Gateway (800.394.3366 or info@childwelfare.gov).

Table of Contents

1 - General Service Approaches and Outcomes

2 - Lessons Learned

3 - Conclusion

Appendix A - Project Information

Appendix B - Contact Information

¹ Synthesis Report of the School-Based Child Maltreatment Prevention, Identification and Treatment Services Demonstration Projects, final report for Children's Bureau contract #GS-10F-0204K, "Technical Assistance on Evaluation," prepared for James Bell Associates by Jacqueline Smollar, Ph.D. back

You are in section: Table of Contents 1 - General Service Approaches… 2 - Lessons Learned 3 - Conclusion Appendix A - Project Information Appendix B - Contact Information

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This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway.

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Updated on March 1, 2010