February 20, 2009

Effective Strategies to Support Positive Parenting in Community Health Centers: Report of the Working Group on Child Maltreatment Prevention in Community Health Centers

Karen Saywitz, PhD, Chair, American Psychological Association, Preston A. Britner, PhD, American Psychological Association, Jessica Henderson Daniel, PhD, American Psychological Association, Howard Dubowitz, MD, American Psychological Association, John R. Lutzker, PhD, American Psychological Association, Neena Malik, PhD, American Psychological Association, and Joseph Stone, PhD, American Psychological Association, write that child abuse and neglect are serious but potentially preventable public health problems in this country. America's future prosperity and security depend on its ability to promote the health and well-being of its children. Today's children will be the next generation of citizens, workers, and parents. Although many families are thriving, in millions of homes in the United States, children's caretaking and development are faltering, and in many households, failing altogether.

The authors of this report believe America is in the midst of a remarkable expansion of new knowledge in neuroscience and genetics, child development, and economics, with compelling discoveries about the influence of parent-child interaction on the developing brain, effective ways to treat and prevent mental health problems, and the cost-effectiveness of early investment in young children to generate positive outcomes in the future. The resulting body of knowledge offers the public, its policymakers, and its civic leaders an opportunity that did not exist even a decade ago to catalyze the creation of effective, science-based policies and practices to prevent child maltreatment.