Each April, we celebrate National Child Abuse Prevention Month, elevating attention and engaging the public to work together to help families thrive and prevent child maltreatment. In Missouri and throughout the country, there is growing recognition that too many children enter the child welfare system for reasons other than abuse and neglect, but instead because of misdirected responses to family and community hardship. This not only harms children and families who should not be separated but also diverts attention and resources from serving children who are at risk of abuse or cannot stay safely in their homes.

Doing better by all of these children means we have to understand the differences and redirect our resources accordingly. Poverty is not neglect, and supporting families struggling to provide for their children requires a different approach than preventing sexual and physical abuse. For example, one community resource preventing sexual abuse is Stewards of Children, which teaches adults practical actions they can take to prevent child sexual abuse in their organizations, families and communities. The Missouri Network Against Child Abuse is another helpful resource to learn about ways you can help prevent sexual and physical abuse. Of the 4,347 Missouri children who had substantiated claims of abuse or neglect in 2023, 25% of the incidents were physical abuse and 29% were sexual abuse.

On the other hand, supporting families and preventing abuse requires:

• Amplifying parent, youth and community voice.
• Community-based family-strengthening prevention and support.
• Relational health to improve parent, family and caregiver engagement. 

Even though each response is different, the need for community engagement for both is critical. Family support and child abuse prevention do not happen in a government office or program, but in the heart of communities, led by people who know their neighbors and have the resources to respond. Although many community organizations are in place to help families stay safely together, Missouri needs even more support to combat its high levels of family separation. If you want to know what’s happening where you live and what you can do to support families staying safely together, we would love to hear from you. Please visit our contact page for more information.