Keeping Track 2010 NYC Children

Please Join Us Wednesday, June 9, 2010 for the premiere of the Ninth Edition of Keeping Track of New York City's Children.

Space is limited. RSVP required

Location: Baruch College Conference Center Room 750
151 East 25th Street, 7th Floor
(The North side of 25th street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenue)

9:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast
9:30 a.m. Program and Presentation of Keeping Track Online

WEBSITE:
http://www.cccnewyork.org/index.html

U of M research says early abuse tied to more depression in children

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/08/2010) —Although children can be depressed for many reasons, new evidence suggests that there are physiological differences among depressed children based on their experiences of abuse before age five. Early abuse may be especially damaging due to the very young age at which it occurs.

Those are the findings of a new study of low-income children that was conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Rochester, Mt. Hope Family Center. The study appears in the January/February 2010 issue of the journal Child Development.

Children who experience maltreatment, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse or neglect, grow up with a lot of stress. Cortisol, termed the “stress hormone,” helps the body regulate stress. But when stress is chronic and overloads the system, cortisol can soar to very high levels or plummet to lows, which in turn can harm development and health.

READ FULL ARTICLE:
http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releases/2010/UR_CONTENT_175768.html

Babies Cry, Have a Plan!!

Shaken Baby Syndrome, sometimes called abusive head trauma, is a medical term that describes the injuries that occur to infants who are violently shaken by an adult caregiver. When babies are shaken, their heads, necks, arms, and legs “whiplash” violently. Their fragile brains move back and forth within their skulls, which can injure the brain.
Injuries caused by Shaken Baby Syndrome:

Cerebral Palsy; brain damage; blindness or eye damage; damage to the spinal cord (paralysis); fractures of the skull, vertebrae, ribs, arms, and legs; seizure disorders; delays in normal development or developmental disabilities; death.
Nearly ¼ of babies who are shaken die from their injuries. Violent shaking would be bad for any of us, but it’s worse for infants. Some reasons why are:

• A baby’s brain is still developing and is softer than an adult’s brain.
• A baby’s neck muscles are very weak.
• Blood vessels in a baby’s brain tear easily.
• A baby’s head is large compared to the rest of the body.

READ MORE: http://www.mctf.org/images/pdf/Babies_cry.pdf

Addressing Substance Abuse and Child Maltreatment: The RMQIC

First in a series of articles on the Children's Bureau's Quality Improvement Centers

How can child welfare agencies and substance abuse treatment programs coordinate their services to achieve better outcomes for children and families? This was the issue that American Humane Association's Rocky Mountain Quality Improvement Center (RMQIC) began to tackle in 2001 when the Children's Bureau awarded a 5-year grant to the regional research and demonstration project. As part of the process, the RMQIC awarded subgrants and provided technical assistance to four projects in the western region of the United States.

Program-level evaluations show a number of positive outcomes for each project, including a decrease in the recurrence of child maltreatment, an increase in children returning to or remaining in their homes, and an increase in child and family well-being. Cross-site evaluation data demonstrate that the following program and process characteristics are associated with positive outcomes:

Integrated systems for service delivery
Use of a central case coordinator/manager/substance abuse liaison
Immediate availability of the case coordinator
Skilled, knowledgeable, relationship-focused staff
User-friendly referral and engagement process
Service planning and delivery process that is mindful of the cognitive impairments caused by substance abuse
Respectful but open flow of client information across systems
Environment that supports open dialog across systems
Streamlined access to a variety of affordable services
Integrated funding

READ MORE:http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewArticles&issueid=87§ionid=1&articleid=1393

Are children with disabilities at higher risk of being abused?

Children with disabilities of any kind are not
identified in crime statistic systems in the U.S., making it
difficult to determine their risk for abuse (Sullivan, 2003). A
number of weak and small-scale studies found that children
with all types of disabilities are abused more often than
children without disabilities. Studies show that rates of abuse
among children with disabilities are variable, ranging from a
low of 22 percent to a high of 70 percent (National Research
Council, 2001). Although the studies found a wide range of
abuse prevalence, when taken as a whole, they provide
consistent evidence that there is a link between children with
disabilities and abuse (Sobsey, 1994).
One in three children with an identified disability for
which they receive special education services are victims of
some type of maltreatment (i.e., either neglect, physical abuse,
or sexual abuse) whereas one in 10 nondisabled children
experience abuse. Children with any type of disability are
3.44 times more likely to be a victim of some type of abuse
compared to children without disabilities. (Sullivan &
Knutson, 2000).

READ MORE:
http://www.thearc.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=1922

Helping Families Support Their Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Children.

Ryan, Caitlin.
Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development.
San Francisco State University.
2009
Sponsoring Organization: United States. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
This practice brief was developed for families, caretakers, advocates, and providers to: Provide basic information to help families support their lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) children; Share some of the critical new research from the Family Acceptance ProjectTM (FAP) at San Francisco State University. This important new research shows that families have a major impact on their LGBT children's health, mental health, and well-being; and Give families and LGBT youth hope that ethnically, religiously, and socially diverse families, parents, and caregivers can become more supportive of their LGBT children. This practice brief reports on specific findings from FAP research. (Author abstract)


View more: http://www11.georgetown.edu/research/gucchd/nccc/documents/LGBT_Brief.pdf

Team Decisionmaking and Domestic Violence: An Advanced Training for TDM Facilitators and Child Protection Supervisors. Trainer's Guide.

Taggart, Shellie.
Family Violence Prevention Fund.
2009
Sponsoring Organization: Annie E. Casey Foundation.
An advanced domestic violence curriculum for Team Decisionmaking (TDM) facilitators and child protection supervisors on safely preparing for and managing effective meetings, engaging parents around DV issues, assessing the impact of children’s exposure to DV, and making decisions and plans to increase safety for children and battered mothers. The curriculum is designed as a day long (six hour) training and draws upon several important concepts in current child welfare literature, including: Family-centered practice; Solution-focused interviewing; Signs of Safety approach to practice; Clear distinctions between danger and risk; Comprehensive family assessment; Eliminating disproportionality (over- or under-representation of various racial and ethnic groups as compared to the general population) in child protection. (Author abstract)

http://endabuse.org/content/features/detail/1468/
http://endabuse.org/userfiles/file/Children_and_Families/TDM_curriculum_Final.pdf