The Safe Start demonstration projects, funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) under the first phase of the Safe Start initiative, are primarily designed to influence change at the systems or macrolevels to reduce the incidence of and impact of exposure to violence for children aged birth to 6 years; direct…

Children's exposure to violence (CEV)--including direct child maltreatment, witnessing domestic violence, and witnessing community and school violence--can have serious consequences, including a variety of psychiatric disorders and behavioral problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Fortunately, research has shown…

Although existing family preservation program research has focused on identifying the components of effective treatment, we remain far from fully developing empirically supported interventions (Barth, Chamberlain, Reid, Rolls, Hurlburt, Farmer, James, McCabe, & Kohl, 2005; Dufour, Chamberland, & Trocme, 2003). The current longitudinal study…

Describes an experimental child abuse training program developed for a wide range of community workers involved in the care of high risk families, and examines factors that interfere with the delivery of effective care. (CM)

Describes and evaluates a child protection team in rural Vermont. The author draws on the team's experience to develop a model designed to utilize the strengths of a small community. (Author/DB)

Describes a caseload weighting system used by a voluntary child welfare agency which successfully increased caseworker-client contact and improved the quality of the delivery of child and family services. (BB)

Identifies factors contributing to difficulties involved in developing ethnic sensitivity training for child protective services caseworkers. Examines frameworks for training caseworkers in ethnic sensitivity. Proposes a new approach to improving caseworkers' ability to complete ethnically sensitive assessments and discusses implications of this…

Outlines three major differentiating categories of children who were sexually abused by sex rings: level of fear, ability to trust, and disclosure confusion. Addresses denial and resistance regarding child sexual exploitation by a ring among practitioners in the child welfare system. (Author/BB)