Preventing child abuse and neglect:

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• Preventing child abuse and neglect
• the early childhood educators role

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Early childhood educators

• have a role in strengthening families and
  preventing child abuse and neglect
• have knowledge and skills to strengthen families
  in a variety of ways and
• have access to resources and professional
  development opportunities.

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How do we prevent child abuse and neglect?

• Strengthening families by providing them with the
  skills and resources they need to understand and
  meet their childs emotional, physical, and
  developmental needs is the best way to stop child
  abuse and neglect from happening in the first
  place.
• Early childhood professionals help prevent abuse
  every day!

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Six Strategies to Strengthen Families

• Provide quality care and education through
  developmentally appropriate practices.
• Develop reciprocal relationships with families.
• Recognize situations that may place children at
  risk of abuse, and signs of abuse, and provide
  families with appropriate support.
• Understand, and help families to understand and
  handle, childrens challenging behaviors.
• Build on child and family strengths.
• Stay informed about our professional
  responsibilities.

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Strategy 1Provide quality care and education
through developmentally appropriate practices

• Quality Care and Educationin Practice
• Network, read, and keep up to date on early
  childhood practice through conferences and other
  professional development opportunities.
• Talk and share ideas with other educators, and
  participate in program staff development
  activities that reinforce high-quality,
  challenging, and achievable educational
  practices.
• Use knowledge about each child strengths and
  challenges when planning activities.
• Place posters, images, and key resources about
  developmentally appropriate practices in the
  classroom or program as reminders for families
  and staff.

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Strategy 2Develop reciprocal relationships
with families

• Developing Reciprocal Relationshipsin Practice
• Maintain regular, ongoing contact with families
  through informal chats at drop-off and pick-up
  times, daily or weekly notes, regular parent
  conferences, home visits, email, or phone calls.
• Encourage families to talk about their culture
  and family traditions, their childs strengths
  and challenges, their hopes and dreams for their
  child.
• Ask families about how they think their children
  are developing.
• Plan and invite families (including extended
  family members) to program activities, such as
  workshops, potluck dinners, field trips, or
  parties.
• Ask families on a regular basis what kind of
  support they need.

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Strategy 3 Recognize signs of abuse,
situations that may place children at risk of
abuse, and provide families with appropriate
support

• Recognizing signs, risks, and providing
  supportin practice
• Become familiar with the signs and risks of child
  abuse and neglect.
• Pay attention to children with sudden behavioral
  changes or who display aggressive behaviors, and
  work with their families and others to identify
  possible causes.
• Learn more about children with disabilities,
  developmental delays, and special needsand about
  the challenges their families may face.
• Create a clothing closet with commonly needed
  items (hats, mittens, coats) or a food pantry
  with nonperishable food items and tactfully
  encourage the use of these resources.
• Work with your program to develop and distribute
  a list of local resources that may be helpful to
  families.

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Strategy 4Understand, and help families to
understand and handle childrens challenging
behaviors

• Handling challenging behaviorsin practice
• Predictable and consistent routines and schedules
  help prevent challenging behaviors. Post
  schedules so children know what to expect and
  feel secure and comfortable.
• Share periodic handouts or host workshops about
  young childrens development and appropriate
  behaviors and expectations at various ages and
  for individual children.
• Provide a space where parents can observe their
  child interacting with others and learn new
  techniques from watching staff.
• Recommend specific actions and words families can
  use when facing challenging behaviors, e.g.,
  ignore tantrums if child is not hurting herself.

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Strategy 5 Build on child and family strengths

• Building on strengthsin practice
• Praise the things you admire in the family and
  child Youve been having a rough time lately
  I really admire the way you are coping.
• Use informative, specific words when
  acknowledging childrens strengths. You used
  some bright colors on that picture is better
  than just good job or pretty picture.
• Ask parents about their childs strengths and
  special interests so you can build on those if
  you are not already doing so.

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Strategy 6 Understand your professional
responsibilities

• Staying informedin practice
• Numerous resources are available at low- or
  no-cost from NAEYC and others committed to
  strengthening families. Go to www.naeyc.org/ece/s
  upporting.asp for a listing of resources.
• Numerous NAEYC resources define early childhood
  educators legal and ethical responsibilities
  regarding child protection. In addition, know
  your state and local child protection laws and
  share them with parents in a natural,
  nonthreatening way as part of your programs
  policies.
• Regularly attend professional workshops and
  conferences to stay up-to-date on professional
  responsibilities, ethics, and practices.

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Discussion Questions for Educators

• 1. Before this presentation, what did child abuse
  prevention mean to you? What did you see as your
  role in preventing abuse and neglect?
• 2. How has the information in the presentation
  expanded your view? What else might you do to
  help prevent abuse and neglect and strengthen
  families?
• 3. National research by NAEYC revealed that early
  childhood educators
• are willing to take an even more active part in
  preventing child abuse and neglect
• feel a strong professional and personal
  responsibility to help prevent child abuse and
  neglect
• see promoting healthy social and emotional
  development as important to preventing child
  abuse and neglect and
• feel unprepared and uncomfortable about
  discussing difficult topics with families, and
  want more hands-on training and resources.
• Do these findings ring true with your experience
  as an early childhood educator, working with
  children and families every day?

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Discussion Questions for Educators, contd

• 4. In small groups, discuss each of the six
  family strengthening strategies, thinking about
  the following points
• To what extent do you and your program work in
  intentional ways to do these everyday things?
  Focus on your strengths and accomplishments, as
  well as your areas of need.
• Brainstorm ways in which you might do more in
  these areas.
• In what areas do you need more
  training/resources?
• How can you support each other?
• 5. Thinking about your discussion above, make a
  list of concrete actions you can do individually
  or as a staff to strengthen families. Make a
  commitment to a few feasible activities to start.
  

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Discussion Questions for Students

• Before this presentation, what did child abuse
  prevention mean to you? What did you see as the
  role of early childhood educators in preventing
  abuse and neglect?
• How has the information in the presentation
  expanded your view?
• Were there any statements or points made that
  surprised you? Why?
• How do you feel about having these important
  responsibilities be a part of your everyday job?
• What did you learn that you would like to
  incorporate into your work as an early childhood
  educator?
• What are you committed to do to improve your
  skills and knowledge in strengthening families to
  prevent child abuse and neglect? Think about
  concrete steps you can take in your own
  professional development that will help prepare
  you for these responsibilities.