Prevention is the Priority | Child Abuse Prevention Month

As a social worker, I have worked with children and families for many years. I see tremendous value in focusing efforts on prevention. Once abuse happens, a life, a family, and a community are forever impacted. There are so many children that come to my mind when I think of the long-term outcomes that result from a lack of prevention. The pain and loss these children have suffered stays with them as they move into adulthood. We must focus our attention on preventing abuse and neglect before it ever happens.  

Successful prevention efforts can be hard to measure. How do we prove that we prevented child abuse?

I think of the children and families I’ve worked with that have participated in family support programs. I think of the mother who lost custody of two young children but wanted better for her new baby. She participated in Thornwell’s Building Families program, and it changed her life! She learned a new way to interact with her child and her son developed a sense of trust. They began to thrive as we supported her with one-on-one instruction.  

I think of the young person in our Attachment-Based Residential Care Program who pushed every boundary.  Their family couldn’t keep them safely at home due to their behaviors that resulted from childhood trauma. If they remained in the home, there was potential for additional abuse, neglect, or disruption.

Thornwell’s A.R.C. Residential program can be a form of prevention.

A.R.C. Residential gives youth an opportunity to heal and to learn how to be a child again. That can be life-changing! It also helps the parents learn new approaches, build new skills, and rebuild healthy trusting relationships with their child. As that young person prepares to leave our program, the entire family is better prepared to thrive as a family-unit. They see a better way! 

I think of our amazing Thornwell foster parents who have lovingly welcomed 91 children into their homes this past year. These families are so dedicated to the care of these children, and we are thankful for their outpouring of love. They stand in the gap for children who cannot safely remain with their family so that abuse and neglect cannot continue to occur. Sometimes, they help pave the way for families to be together again safely. We have foster parents who foster teen moms and their babies TOGETHER.

We have foster parents that mentor and care for the parents of the child in their home, building relationships so that even after reunification the family has continued support. 

There is not one program that is the sole solution to preventing child abuse. Prevention is a collaborative community effort. We all must play our part! Children thrive when we wrap families in love and support. Love and support may look like connecting them to free and low-cost community programs that help them build protective capacity, parenting skills, and a community of support.

Imagine a world where prevention is the priority – and children are not paying the cost for our inaction. That is the future Thornwell is striving for today! 

Katie Brophy

Thornwell Building Families Senior Director of Clinical Services