Our Mission

The mission of Prevent Child Abuse America is to "prevent the abuse and neglect of our nation's children" and includes all forms of abuse and neglect, whether physical, sexual, educational, or emotional.

In recognizing our mission, Prevent Child Abuse America will inform the public that the prevention of abuse and neglect decreases lifelong adverse medical and emotional consequences for children and promotes their well-being. It also reduces the costs of human services, delinquency and criminal justice services and the loss of work productivity.

We believe that our mission is best achieved by ensuring a child's right to achieve his or her full potential and to prevent abuse and neglect before it happens. We advocate for public policies that diminish or eliminate risk factors while promoting protective factors. We suggest a continuum of services, access to those services and adequate service capacity to meet the developmental needs of children and families.

To achieve our mission, Prevent Child Abuse America will:

• Provide national leadership in public policy development for children and families;
• Serve as a clearinghouse for effective prevention strategies including education and training;
• Foster the translation of research into practice to inform more effective public policy on children and families;
• Deliver evidence based strategies that promote optimal models that enable communities to assess their ability and capacity to provide for children and families;
• Advise communities on a continuum of programs that provide the array of services necessary for healthy and age appropriate child development and family support; and,
• Deliver a communication plan that a) provides a clear message that abuse and neglect is preventable, b) engages parents, families, individuals, communities, public officials, educators and the business community, and c) identifies a variety of actions that promote the mission and empowers individuals and groups to become engaged in individual and systemic changes.