April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
This month and throughout the year, Adoption STAR encourages all individuals and organizations to play a role in making our country a better place for children and families. By ensuring that parents have the knowledge, skills and resources they need to care for their children, we can help promote children’s social and emotional well being and prevent child maltreatment within families and communities.
Research shows that when parents possess six protective factors, the risk for neglect and abuse diminish and optimal outcomes for children, youth, and families are promoted.
The six protective factors are:
- Nurturing and attachment
- Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development
- Parental resilience
- Social connections
- Concrete supports for parents
- Social and emotional developmental well-being
To read a bit more about these six protective factors, check out the Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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