Adams County consistently ranks higher than the Colorado state average for child abuse and neglect rates. The highest percentage of children who are abused or neglected are under the age of 5. Reducing the child abuse and neglect rate through prevention strategies is a high priority for ECPAC partners.
ECPAC’s Child Maltreatment Prevention effort first began in 2014, when the Strengthening Families Framework was adopted. This long-standing commitment set ECPAC up to engage community partners in a 9-month Child Maltreatment Prevention planning effort in 2018 and an award from the Colorado Department of Human Services to implement in 2019.
See our work to date HERE.
For more information regarding this Action Team, contact Stephanie Henderson (stephanie@ecpac.org / 303-650-2382)
In partnership with Illuminate Colorado, ECPAC supported the data collection and determination of recommendations to increase support for families who have a primary caregiver struggling with substance use: See report.
The Strengthening Families 5 Protective Factors help parents find resources, supports, or coping strategies that allow them to parent effectively, even under stress. English; Spanish
- Parental Resilience – managing stress and function well when faced with challenges, adversity, and trauma
- Social Connections – positive relationships that provide emotional, informational, and spiritual support
- Concrete Supports – access to supports and services that address a family’s needs and help minimize stress caused by challenges
- Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development – understanding child development and parenting strategies that support physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional development
- Social and Emotional Competence of Children – family and child interactions that help children develop the ability to communicate clearly, recognize and regulate their emotions, and establish and maintain relationships
For more information on the Strengthening Families Framework: http://www.co4kids.org/prevention
