NCJ Number
69628
Date Published
1979
Length
83 pages
Annotation
The roles and procedures of early childhood programs in child abuse and neglect identification, treatment, and prevention are described.
Abstract
Designed primarily for use by preschools, day care centers, family day care providers, and Head Start Programs, the manual is also of interest for other professionals dealing with child abuse and for concerned citizens. Physical and behavioral indicators for identifying physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse are listed. The manual stresses the legal obligation of childhood programs to report child abuse to the authorities and gives detailed instructions for preparing the report and dealing with the parents. Treatment assistance in the framework of ordinary childhood programs may include (1) designing and implementing Child Protective Service treatment plans to meet the needs of a particular family, (2) acting as a source of information on the child's progress after the beginning of treatment, (3) encouraging parents, and (4) improving the quality of child care and developing special systems to deal with abused and neglected children. Since the early childhood programs are in an excellent position to prevent child abuse, instructions are given for counseling parents, helping risk families, and establishing community awareness. Guidelines for developing a program structure for fulfilling responsibilities in preventing and treating abuse and neglect complete the manual. A list of regional child abuse and neglect resource centers and 13 references are appended.