Know

Think back to your childhood. Can you think of a time when you felt completely safe? Hold an image of the place or the experience in your mind. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What sensations do you feel? What emotions does it evoke? Who is there with you? What do they do to make you feel safe?

For some of us, this might be an easy exercise. Some childhoods were full of safe and happy memories from which to choose. For others of us, though, this exercise is challenging. There might be few times when we experienced a feeling of complete safety, and those times might be shaded by memories of other, uncomfortable or scary experiences or events. All of us, regardless of our backgrounds, likely feel a sense of gratitude toward those people and places who helped us feel safe.

There is a growing body of evidence that these moments, these relationships, these safe places where we feel loved and protected can make all the difference in our lives. Consider Sara’s story:

Sara’s story reminds us of several important ideas. First, all parents love their children very much and are doing the best they can. This is important to remember when we begin working with families. Second, the parent-child bond is strong even in the most difficult relationships — children love their parents. Third, history is not destiny: children who were mistreated do not all grow up to abuse their own children. Fourth, unconditional love makes a big difference in a child’s life. It is easy to imagine that Sara probably also had many other people rooting for her and helping her succeed. Love from a parent is critical, but extended family, neighbors, teachers, social workers, and counselors can all contribute the safe, stable, and nurturing relationships.

Clearly, relationships are the first and most important foundation in a child’s life. Sara had a relationship with her parents, but it is also likely that she had strong relationships with other adults around her: teachers, coaches, or neighbors. These relationships helped Sara bounce back from the challenges she encountered. You have an important opportunity to build secure relationships with the infants, toddlers, and two-year-olds in your care. These relationships help children look to you for protection and care. Children come to know that adults care about them and can meet their needs. Relationships also help you understand each child deeply and help you act in each child’s best interests. This includes taking important steps to prevent child abuse and neglect in your program.

As you remember from the course on Child Abuse Identification and Reporting, child abuse and neglect can be institutional as well as familial. This means child abuse and neglect can happen in your program. This lesson will review the concept of institutional abuse and neglect. The remaining lessons in this course will help you learn specific strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect in your program.

You have already completed a course on identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect, and you will continue to have regular professional development on this topic throughout your career. Let’s just take a few moments to review the major definitions of child abuse and neglect.

What is Child Abuse and Neglect?

Federal law defines child abuse and neglect as:

Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.

Source: Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320), § 3.

The Department of Defense (DoDI 6400.01, 2019) defines child abuse and neglect as follows:

The physical or sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect of a child by a parent, guardian, foster parent, or by a caregiver, whether the caregiver is intrafamilial or extrafamilial, under circumstances indicating the child’s welfare is harmed or threatened. Such acts by a sibling, other family member, or other person shall be deemed child abuse only when the individual is providing care under express or implied agreement with the parent, guardian, or foster parent. A child is an unmarried person under 18 years of age for whom a parent, guardian, foster parent, caregiver, employee of a residential facility or any staff person providing out-of-home care is legally responsible. The term child means a biological child, adopted child, stepchild, foster child, ward, a sponsor’s family member (except the sponsor’s spouse) of any age who is incapable of self-support because of mental or physical incapacity, and for whom treatment in a DoD medical treatment program is authorized.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the military Family Advocacy Program, child abuse and neglect generally falls into one of these four categories:

Special Consideration for Infants: Shaken Baby Syndrome

Shaken baby syndrome is a form of head trauma and brain injury. Violently shaking, dropping, or throwing an infant can cause it. Most victims of shaken baby syndrome are under the age of 1, with the average age of victim being between 3 and 8 months. When babies are shaken, their neck muscles are not strong enough to control their heads. This causes the brain to move back and forth inside the skull. The result is bleeding and bruising of the brain. The effects are even worse when the shaking ends with a sudden impact, as when a child is slammed into a crib or against a wall.

What Risk Factors are Associated With Abuse and Neglect?

Child abuse occurs across every ethnicity, culture, religion, socioeconomic group, and at all educational levels. Experts have identified common factors that may increase the risk of experiencing or perpetrating child abuse or neglect. These include:

• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Difficulties controlling emotions, words, or behaviors
• Harsh approach to discipline
• Mental health issues
• Little knowledge of child development
• History of maltreatment as a child

When a child is abused or neglected by a parent, guardian, or family member, it is called familial abuse. This type of abuse typically happens in the child’s home.

When a child is abused or neglected by someone else in a supervisory role (like a teacher, coach, or community member), it is called institutional or out-of-home abuse. Your workplace is committed to making sure each and every child is safe while in your program. The remainder of this course will focus on ways to make sure children are never mistreated in your program. You will learn frameworks, strategies, and supports for helping to make this happen.

What is Institutional Abuse and Neglect?

Institutional abuse or neglect occurs outside the home in community or private settings. This type of abuse or neglect is also known as “out-of-home” or “extra-familial” abuse or neglect. Throughout the rest of this course, institutional abuse will refer to abuse or neglect which may occur in Department of Defense-sponsored facilities, programs, or activities. This course will focus on abuse or neglect which may occur in child development centers, family child care homes, sponsored field trips, and school-age care programs. Remember, though, that institutional abuse can also occur in installation homework or computer centers, mentoring or tutoring programs, sports programs, chapel programs, scouts, Morale Welfare and Recreation programs, teen centers and youth programs. This type of abuse typically involves a child and an adult in a supervisory role, like a teacher, caregiver, or volunteer.

How Can Child Abuse and Neglect Be Prevented in Center Settings?

The lessons that follow in this course will describe specific strategies for preventing child abuse and neglect in your program. To begin this course, though, take a few moments to think about yourself and how you can get ready for the important work you will do with children. Think about how you will go about forming a bond with each child. Consider the following relationship-building strategies:

• Spend time with each child. If you work with infants, spend time holding, rocking, and talking to each baby. With toddlers, sit down and talk. Join in play.
• Interact with each child. Follow a baby’s gaze and maintain eye contact. Talk to infants and copy the sounds they make. Repeat what toddlers say and add a bit more information.
• Learn about the important people in each child’s life. Talk with family members. Learn about older siblings.
• Provide encouragement. Help infants and toddlers explore their environments. Describe what you see them do (“You put all the balls in the basket!”) and help them bounce back from challenges (“You were working so hard to open that box. Let’s try together.”)
• Provide comfort and touch. Infants and toddlers need positive touch. Hold babies while feeding a bottle, and rock infants to sleep. Hold or hug a crying toddler.
• Respond quickly when an infant cries. This helps a baby learn to trust that you will meet his or her needs. Quickly providing a diaper, a bottle, or a comforting hug helps an infant build trust in adults and in the world around him.
• Begin talking to infants about feelings that you recognize as they experience them. It is never too early to begin teaching empathy. (For example, if baby is crying “I see that you’re sad, let’s rock together and sing your favorite song.”) Showing a child that you understand what they are trying to communicate builds a trusting relationship.

Next, understand that you have strengths you can draw upon to prevent child abuse and neglect. These are known as protective factors. You learned about the Strengthening Families protective factors in the Child Abuse Identification and Reporting course. You can review the Protective Factors Framework by visiting https://cssp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Branching-Out-and-Reaching-Deeper.pdf. The table below provides an overview of the protective factors that are important in your work with families as well as in your own efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect in center settings.

The same protective factors that help families cope with challenges apply to all of us as adults. Let’s explore each of the protective factors and how they might apply to your work. This material has been adapted from the Preventing Child Maltreatment and Promoting Well-Being: A Network for Action 2013 Resource Guide by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• Adult Resilience: We all need the ability to cope with the stresses of everyday life. The emotions you feel may make you feel less capable of doing your job. Stress reduces your capacity to think creatively, be patient, problem-solve, and try new skills – all strategies that are necessary in early childhood care. Each one of us has strengths we can draw upon: faith, flexibility, humor, communication skills, problem-solving skills, mutually supportive caring relationships, or the ability to identify and access outside resources (https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/). We can take the time to make sure we nurture and expand these strengths in ourselves and others.
• Knowledge of Child Development: It seems obvious, but understanding typical child development will help you do your job. Unrealistic expectations for children’s behavior are major risk factors for child abuse and neglect. Make sure you know what to expect from the children in your care. In a stressful situation, this knowledge helps you remain calm, recognize child development in action, and understand what skills you can help the child develop next. It’s also important that you continue to build your professional skills across your career. Seek out professional development and try new ideas that will keep your work fresh, exciting, and rewarding.
• Social Connections: Research suggests that strong social connections promote health, wellness, and longevity. By creating or strengthening social relationships in your own life, you will be better able to do your job well.
• Concrete Supports: We all need tools to help us do our jobs. It is OK — and important — to ask for help when it is needed. Talk to your trainer administrator about ways you can get new ideas for your classroom, individual children, or families. Also remember that you are not immune to stress outside of work, too. You might be experiencing any number of stressors at home. Seek out and use community resources, whether it’s assistance with filing taxes, finding quality health care, or job assistance for a spouse or partner.
• Social and Emotional Competence of Children: This is the foundation of the work we do every day in child development programs. You will learn much more about this topic in the Social & Emotional Development and Positive Guidance courses. For now, understand your role as one of promoting healthy relationships, communication skills, and self-expression.

See

What do programs that prevent child abuse and neglect look like? They promote the five protective factors (the five protective factors are described in Figure 1 of this lesson's Know section). Here’s what you might see in a program that promotes the protective factors:

• Facilitates friendships and mutual support for families Your program should provide opportunities for families to interact with one another and build relationships with one another.
• Strengthens parenting. Everyone needs tips sometimes. Your program can offer families learning experiences right when they need them most. For example, your program could offer families of infants and toddlers information on toilet training, biting, guiding behavior etc.
• Responds to family crises. When crises happen, families need to know there is somewhere they can go for support. Your program might not have all the answers, but it should be a place where families can connect with resources. This might be food, housing, employment, or medical services.
• Links families to services and opportunities. Your program can connect families with parent support programs, mental health services, employment opportunities, and many other resources in our community. Communicating regularly with parents in your program can help determine if there are specific needs that aren’t being met and assist in linking families with community resources. Asking parents what supports they need instead of assuming what they need can build trust and strengthen the relationship between families and caregivers.
• Facilitates children’s social and emotional development. This is the foundation of everything we do in child development programs. You will learn more about how you can help children develop in this course and in the Social & Emotional Development course.
• Observes and responds to early warning signs of abuse and neglect. If concerns are recognized early, your program can help families build their own protective factors and get the help they need to prevent negative outcomes.
• Values and supports parents. Your program should offer families leadership opportunities in the programs. Be sure you talk to families every day and let them know that you recognize the trust they have placed in you.

Talk to your director orTraining & Curriculum Specialistcoach about the supports your program offers or if you have any concerns about a family. Watch this video to learn more about the Protective Factors framework.

Do

Throughout your work with children, you should prioritize relationships. Based on what you read in this lesson, you should:

• Establish secure bonds with children in your care.
• Observe children for signs of child abuse or neglect (as described in the Child Abuse and Neglect Identification and Reporting course).
• Identify the resources available for families at your program. Talk to your trainer, coach, or administrator to learn more.

Completing this Course

For more information on what to expect in this course, the Child Abuse: Prevention Competency Reflection, and a list of the accompanying Learn, Explore and Apply resources and activities offered throughout the lessons, visit the Infant & Toddler Child Abuse: Prevention Course Guide.

Please note the References & Resources section at the end of each lesson outlines reference sources and resources to find additional information on the topics covered. As you complete lessons, you are not expected to review all the online references available. However, you are welcome to explore the resources further if you have interest, or at the request of your trainer, coach, or administrator.