Program areas at PCAA
Prevention programs -healthy families America is an evidence-based home visiting model led by Prevent Child Abuse America. By supporting parents in the home, healthy families America builds a strong foundation for safe, nurturing, and trusted relationships between caregiver and Child that maximizes opportunities for children to reach their full potential and enjoy lifelong success. Hfa has been shown to improve school readiness, reduce Child maltreatment and intimate partner violence, and improve family economic stability, among other positive outcomes.
Prevention research. Research informs all the work we do at Prevent Child Abuse America. Our team of experts work across all departments to ensure that our prevention strategies are guided by the best available data and evidence. They also translate research findings for practice and policy audiences, elevating lessons learned from the field and advancing knowledge of what works, and support our network of state chapters through grants to study innovation in Child Abuse prevention. Additionally, pcaa's research team leads projects that enhance our signature home visiting program, healthy families America (hfa). Currently, they are working to strengthen organizational capacity to collect, analyze, and drive continuous quality improvement across the hfa model.
Strategy activities: at Prevent Child Abuse America, we envision a world where all children and families have what they need to thrive and prosper. Pcaa embarked on a comprehensive, adaptive strategy process in 2022 to set a vision for the creation of a primary prevention ecosystem in the united states that builds the wellbeing of our nation's children and families. They developed a bold theory of change comprehensive, evidenced-based, and bold prevention framework that can guide not only the work of pca America, but also the broader prevention field and policy makers into the future. The frameworkis grounded in the primary prevention and systems change literature and was developed through a series of design sessions, interviews and surveys that engaged nearly 1700 individuals representing diverse perspectives.
Prevention education and awareness: great communications can change lives. At Prevent Child Abuse America, we communicate via a wide range of integrated public awareness and engagement efforts to help ensure the safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments that enable children and families to thrive.
Prevention advocacy. The public policy and advocacy program at Prevent Child Abuse America operates on the national level to mobilize nonpartisan support for federal policies and provide technical support to help facilitate effective advocacy at the state and local levels, too. When communities, policymakers, and resources are invested in prevention strategies, we can begin to envision a world where the negative impacts and outcomes from Child maltreatment will be nonexistent.
Chapter activities: the Prevent Child Abuse America (pca America) nationwide state chapter network ranges from independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to agencies that operate under umbrella organizations, such as government departments, hospitals, and universities. Chapters contribute invaluably to our comprehensive prevention efforts, providing state-level expertise and resources and ultimately amplifying our work widely in communities nationwide. They work in tandem with a wide array of community partners to deliver valuable day-to-day prevention work, including the formulation of innovative strategies to address issues such as Child sexual Abuse, raising awareness for the prevention of Child Abuse and neglect, and advocating with state and local governments to ensure that there is funding available for programs designed to benefit children and families