Child well-being has been at the forefront of policy agendas over the past year. With the inclusion of the Family First Prevention Services Act in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the enactment of SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act and the popularity of “trauma-informed” approaches, there are many new opportunities to help ensure children and families receive the best available resources to prevent maltreatment and promote well-being. Alongside these new opportunities, researchers must take stock of the body of extant research, critically examining our knowledge and identifying gaps in the knowledge related to preventing child abuse and neglect.
In recognition of this effort, the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) selected a special topic workshop to be held June 12-13, 2020, in St. Louis, entitled “The State of Research on Prevention of Child Maltreatment: Current Knowledge and Future Directions to Inform Policy and Practiceopens in new window,” which will bring together interdisciplinary researchers, policymakers and direct service providers. They will share their expertise in child maltreatment prevention, survey the state of the field and explore the unanswered questions of policymakers and practitioners looking for answers to inform their work.
This workshop is organized by members of the Doris Duke Fellowship Networkopens in new window, leaders who conduct practice and policy-relevant research that enhances child development and improves the nation’s ability to prevent all forms of child maltreatment. The interdisciplinary nature of the fellowship has created a cadre of the next generation of child welfare researchers from different disciplines (i.e., social work, psychology, prevention science, public policy and administration, sociology, medicine, public health, education, criminal justice, human development, epidemiology, history, neuroscience) who understand how to bridge the research and policy/practice divide. Including both fellows and their academic and policy mentors, spanning across the career spectrum, provides opportunities for students and early career professionals both inside and outside of academia to highlight important work on the prevention of maltreatment.
The two day workshop is structured to focus on different subtopics per day, with day one focusing on what we know about the prevention of child maltreatment and day two focusing on where research about the prevention of child maltreatment needs to go to fill gaps in current knowledge. Incorporated into both days will be sessions related to translating the state of the field for policy and practice to make real world decisions including concrete methods and connections to engage policymakers and practitioners. Plenary sessions will feature panels of experts from a variety of disciplines, including policymakers and practitioners especially those from the local area of St. Louis. Small and large group opportunities have been designed to engage participants in discussion, including the use of traditional paper symposia, shorter flash talks about relevant research topics and invited debate on a hot topic related to prevention of child maltreatment. Presentation sessions will focus on interdisciplinary research and workshops and activities will provide attendees with opportunities to learn new skills such as how to prepare for tenure, how to write policy briefs and how to engage local community programs and stakeholders in collaborative efforts to prevent child maltreatment. A joint poster with the other co-occurring SRCD workshops at the end of the first day will provide researchers, especially students and early career professionals, opportunities to present their work and network with individuals from a wide range of disciplines related to child development. Notes taken throughout the meeting will be compiled and summarized into products such as briefs and monographs to be disseminated widely to help inform researchers, advocates, policymakers and practitioners.
Researchers interested in the prevention of child maltreatment are encouraged to join the discussion in St. Louis, on June 12-13, 2020. See you there.