The Safe Start Center Series on Children Exposed to Violence: Pediatric Care Settings

• NCJ Number: 243307
• Author(s): Betsy McAllister Groves, L.I.C.S.W.; Marilyn Augustyn M.D.
• Date Published: August 2009
• Length: 0 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This issue brief discusses steps that health care workers in pediatric settings can take to address the needs of children exposed to violence.

Abstract

This issue brief, the second in a series of seven, discusses steps that health care workers in pediatric settings can take to address the needs of children exposed to violence. The brief uses case scenarios and analyses to provide practitioners with information on how to offer sensitive, timely, and appropriate interventions to enhance safety and promote the well-being of children, especially those exposed to violence. The case scenarios show how workers in a pediatric health clinic and a public health home-visiting program for new parents can play important roles in identifying children at risk of exposure to violence and providing parents with the support they need to ensure their children's safety and well-being. Promising practices for use by pediatric health care practitioners include universal screening, mandatory reporting, incorporating questions about safety in the home into all pediatric care visits, exploring alternative methods for screening, and arranging for consultation or direct services from social workers or domestic violence advocates. The brief also discusses special considerations that need to be taken into account when these practices are implemented in a pediatric setting. References