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Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Program |
About Prevent Child Abuse IowaOur Mission: "To end child abuse in the entire state of Iowa"
SUPPORTING FAMILIES TO END CHILD ABUSE
Founded in 1975, Prevent Child Abuse Iowa’s fundamental --- and critically important – mission is to end child abuse in the entire state of Iowa. Its single-minded focus on prevention is unique in the child abuse field, where most efforts involve counseling and treating children and families after abuse has already occurred.
Prevent Child Abuse Iowa believes that child abuse is preventable. Almost all parents love their children, wish to be good parents, and do not intend to abuse their children. Despite this, some parents are socially isolated; have few resources to help them through difficult times; face stresses with which they cannot cope; and have limited parenting abilities . Parents in these circumstances could well end up abusing their children.
Providing families with appropriate and timely social support, crisis/respite child care, and education reduces the risk of child abuse. Social support breaks down the isolation that many parents experience and helps them build the connections they need. Crisis/respite child care enables them to survive periods of high stress. Education teaches parents how to communicate effectively and manage better their children's behavior and instructs children how to avoid abuse.
Prevent Child Abuse Iowa works to end child abuse in three major ways:
1. It organizes and directs two statewide child abuse prevention programs, the Iowa Child Abuse Prevention Program (ICAPP) and the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Program. Together these programs annually provide support, education and care in over 90 Iowa counties to 10,000 families and 50,000 children.
2. It serves as information central on child abuse and its prevention for public officials, professionals, the media, and the general Iowa public. In this role, PCA Iowa:
3. It advocates strongly for laws, policies and programs that prevent child abuse. Each fall, PCA Iowa produces a Legislative Agenda, which directs its efforts during the legislative session. It also produces periodic updates on pending legislative activity relevant to child abuse prevention efforts.
PCA Iowa also has a staff person who serves as an associate coordinator for Iowa’s Community Partnerships for Protecting Children.
PCA has started a new AmeriCorps Project with 10 members providing support to Community Partnership Sites. The purpose of AmeriCorps is to engage AmeriCorps members in direct service and capacity-building to address unmet community needs. PCA Iowa is a member of a national network of organizations – chartered by Prevent Child Abuse America. |
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For general comments and questions, please contact: Prevent Child Abuse Iowa
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