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The first Federal child protection legislation, CAPTA was signed by President Nixon on January 31, 1974 and marked the beginning of a new national response to the problem of child abuse and neglect. The legislation provided Federal assistance to States for prevention, identification, and treatment programs. It also created the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (now known as the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect) within the Children's Bureau to serve as a Federal focal point for CAPTA activities. Today CAPTA, most recently reauthorized in 2010, continues to provide minimum standards for child maltreatment definitions and support States' prevention and intervention efforts.

The first report of the Federal Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect was published in March 1978. The report synthesized and described the best knowledge available on the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. One of the core premises of the standards was that preventive efforts must be stressed and receive attention at least equal to that directed toward the assessment and treatment of suspected or actual incidents of child abuse and neglect.

In 1982, Congress resolved that June 6-12 should be designated as the first National Child Abuse Prevention Week.

In 1982, Congress resolved that June 6–12 should be designated as the first National Child Abuse Prevention Week; the following year, President Reagan proclaimed April to be the first National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a tradition that continues to this day. The Bureau's National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect coordinated activities at the Federal level, including creation and dissemination of information and promotional materials. In 1984 for example, posters, bumper stickers, and buttons displayed the theme, "Kids—You can't beat 'em." Print, radio, and television PSAs, meanwhile, urged viewers to "Take time out. Don't take it out on your kid."

The Children's Bureau was an early supporter of State Children's Trust Funds. Kansas was the first State to pass such legislation in the spring of 1980, requiring revenues from surcharges placed on marriage licenses to be used to support child abuse prevention. By 1984, the number of States with Trust Funds was up to 15. That year, Congress passed the Child Abuse Prevention Federal Challenge Grants Act (title IV of P.L. 98–473) to encourage more States to follow suit. By 1989, all but three States had passed Children's Trust Fund legislation.

The blue ribbon campaign is a memorial to children who have been affected by abuse and neglect.

The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect awarded nine grants to develop and implement community-based prevention strategies, develop a coordinated multidisciplinary training program for professionals and community leaders, implement a public awareness campaign, and implement crisis intervention programs.

In the summer of 1990, Secretary of Health and Human Services Louis W. Sullivan, MD, created an unprecedented national initiative to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect and promote coordination of prevention and treatment activities. A December 1991 meeting, "We Can Make a Difference: Strategies for Combating Child Maltreatment," encouraged participants to develop action plans that could be implemented locally. Public service announcements asking the public to "Show You Care" were released during Child Abuse Prevention Month (April) 1992.

In keeping with the Clinton Administration's emphasis on collaboration and integration among child- and family-serving systems, a new grants program, Community-Based Family Resource and Support (CBFRS), was created in 1996. These grants reflected the belief that public and private child abuse prevention and treatment programs must work together toward common goals. The CBFRS program (now known as Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention or CBCAP) requires State lead agencies to establish statewide networks for family support programs, support a coordinated continuum of preventive services, and maximize funding for those services.

The 1996 reauthorization of CAPTA abolished the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect and created an Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN) within the Children's Bureau to coordinate the functions required under CAPTA. At the same time, a Federal Inter-Agency Work Group on Child Abuse and Neglect (FEDIAWG) was established to replace the Inter-Agency Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect that had been active since 1988. Today, FEDIAWG includes representatives of more than 40 Federal agencies and meets quarterly with OCAN's leadership and coordination.

The 13th National Conference recognized the fact that our diversity enables us to bring a multitude of approaches to bear on key issues in the field of child abuse and neglect.

The 14th National Conference recognized that prevention remains the best defense for our children. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the first Presidential Proclamation for Child Abuse Prevention Month, OCAN launched the National Child Abuse Prevention Initiative as a yearlong effort. OCAN and its National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information partnered with Prevent Child Abuse America and the child abuse prevention community to produce a variety of tools and resources to support national, State, and local public awareness activities. The same year, OCAN released its Emerging Practices in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect report, the product of a 2-year effort to generate new information about effective and innovative prevention programs.

There was renewed commitment to make child abuse prevention a national priority. As a result, OCAN focused on making safe children and healthy families a shared responsibility, a theme that was also incorporated into the National Conference.

This encouraged communities to join the effort to promote healthy families and work collaboratively to provide responsive child abuse prevention and family support services. At the same time, OCAN invited 26 national organizations to be national child abuse prevention partners so the message could reach a wider audience.

The Children's Bureau funded three grantees to evaluate and implement nurse home visitation services.

The Children's Bureau launched cooperative agreements to generate knowledge about the use of evidence-based home visiting programs to prevent child abuse and neglect, including obstacles and opportunities for their wider implementation.

The 17th National Conference theme, "Focusing on the Future: Strengthening Families and Communities" reflected the resolve to continue to protect children by addressing the root causes of child maltreatment.

This act included a provision to create the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.

Network for Action kicked off with a meeting in Alexandria, VA, in June 2011. Jointly sponsored by OCAN, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FRIENDS National Resource Center, and other national prevention organizations, the Network for Action is driven by three specific goals: to create a shared vision for the future of child abuse prevention, engage in shared action, and develop and strengthen prevention networks at the State and Federal levels. A second national meeting was held in April 2012.

The 18th National Conference was held in conjunction with the Children's Bureau's centennial celebration year and highlighted our desire to embrace our past successes, to learn from our challenges, and to realize our dream of eliminating child abuse and neglect. A second national Network for Action meeting was held in April 2012.

Third Network for Action Meeting was held in April 2013 and included a focus on connections across the continuum of services from prevention, intervention and treatment.

The 19th National Conference marks the 40th anniversary of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA, P.L. 93-247). The Network for Action Leadership Institute was held in conjunction with the National Conference.

This year's theme, "Building Community, Building Hope," acknowledges the tremendous power in communities to address the problem of child abuse and neglect and reflects our goal of providing a multidisciplinary forum focused on intersections of research, policy, and practice related to promoting child and family well-being and protecting children, to ensure that they grow up to achieve their full potential, free from abuse and neglect.