Child maltreatment is a significant public health concern that affects children's health and well-being throughout their life. Children who are maltreated are at an increased risk of developing a disability or delay and are more vulnerable to a range of mental health-related problems, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, criminality,…

This article assesses the evolving dimensions of sympathy education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the League of Pity, the juvenile branch organisation of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). In its early years the League sought to emphasise Christian service and self-denial,…

This research brief is one of a series of six briefs, which provide an overview of available evidence shown in the Campbell-UNICEF Mega-Map of the effectiveness of interventions to improve child wellbeing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Five of the six briefs summarize evidence as mapped against the five Goal Areas of UNICEF's…

About one-fifth of children involved in investigations for abuse or neglect are placed in foster care. Although some return to their families quickly, others may remain in foster care for years without permanent family relationships. In this article, Mark Testa, Kristen Woodruff, Roseana Bess, Jerry Milner, and Maria Woolverton examine the…

Foster care provides round-the-clock substitute care for nearly 700,000 U.S. children who are temporarily or permanently separated from their family of origin each year. Each state manages its own foster care system according to federal regulations. Despite numerous large-scale federal policy reforms over the past several decades, substantial…

This article spotlights Colorado and Rhode Island's collaboration efforts on the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act (PL 108-36, 2003), which reauthorized the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA, 2018) and Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2018). These two key pieces of federal legislation require…

American colleges and universities serve more minors (i.e., children under the age of 18), than adults and traditional-age college students. Higher education institutions provide services and programs, such as childcare programs, youth-serving educational activities, and pre-college learning or employment. Campuses are open for transient visitors…

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is an urgent public health concern. Given the dire consequences for exploited youth, growing attention has been focused on the importance of preventing, identifying, and responding to CSEC in school settings. Despite calls for schools to be prepared to identify and respond to CSEC, limited specific…

In the United States, two approaches have developed to exercise collective influence on how parents raise their children. One is mandatory public intervention in families who have placed their children at risk, exemplified by the child welfare system. The other is voluntary offers of assistance, for example, child abuse prevention services that…

Purpose: The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act requires child welfare agencies to have provisions in place to refer young children to early intervention services, yet the socioemotional health needs of children are often challenging to recognize and treat effectively. This study reviews the substantive and psychometric properties of…

Since March 2020, states across the country have taken extreme measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Stay-at-home orders and deteriorating economic conditions have placed families under stress, while children home from school have diminished exposure to adults who might detect and report abuse and neglect. There are…

Jonathan Boston provides an insightful analysis of the emergence and persistence of child poverty in New Zealand (Boston, 2014, "Educational Philosophy and Theory"). His remarks on why child poverty matters are brief but, as he reports, "there is a large and robust body of research on the harmful consequences of child poverty"…

The opioid epidemic has led to a dramatic increase in the number of infants and toddlers being removed from their homes and placed in foster care. Doing so places these vulnerable young children at high risk for attachment issues, postnatal medical problems, and development delay. Early Childhood Courts have been found to be a very effective…

Youth involved in child-serving systems of care (e.g., child welfare and juvenile justice) often exhibit specific academic performance problems. The magnitude of academic risk among these students is a serious concern given that school attachment, performance, and attainment closely relate to indicators of well-being across the lifespan. It is…

Objectives: To examine the components affecting the quality of the implementation and their impact on the outcomes of the "Growing Up Happily in the Family" program targeted at parents with children aged 0-5. Method: At-risk and non-at-risk parents (N = 196) participated in 26 groups in local social services. Adherence, adaptations,…