If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. Reafftrming Our Roots Ninth National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect September 14-17, 1991 Denver, Colorado Resource Book ~~~ SERVIC't.roc, 'I;~~~"" ff . u.s. Department of Health and Human Services ~ Administration for Children and Families 'OY. ::j~ Administration on Children, Youth and Families .,.... <t- National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect "'.... "Ja Resource Book Ninth National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect September 14-17, 1991 Denver, Colorado Sponsored by American Association for Protecting Children, a division of The American Humane Association C. Henry Kempe National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect Colorado Child Protection Council National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services • \. NCJRS ,"'i 'JUl 14 199? Ninth National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect c/o The American Humane Association P. O. Box 1266 Denver, Colorado 80201-1266 137458 U.S. Department 01 Justice National Institute 01 JUstice This document has been reproduced exactiy as received from the person or organization originating it. Points 01 view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the officiai position or policies of the National Institute of Justice. Permission to reproduce this ~ material has been granted by Public Dornain/U. S. Dep..t_____ _ of Hea 1 tb and Human Send ces­ to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires permis­ sion of the ~ owner. The printing of this booklet was supported by grant award number 90-CA-1435 from the National Center on child Abuse and Neglect, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 20201. Introduction Introduction In welcoming you to the Ninth National Conference on Child Abuse, the Executive Committee and the Program Committee wish to share with you some of the process and consideration which went into selecting workshops and other components of the program. The traditions and history reflected in the phrase "reaffirming our roots" acknowledges the importance of our long standing commitment to protect children from abuse and neglect while strengthening vulnerable families and guiding us to more effectively focus national efforts and leadership on crucial challenges facing today IS children and families. Reaffirming our roots also reflects multi-cultural and multi-racial concerns and the need to respond as friends, volunteers or professionals with full understanding of the entire circumstances of a given child's and family's problem of abuse or neglect. Extending the notion that this field is not "owned" by any single agency, discipline or community but is based on notions of trusteeship, many different individuals and agencies contributed long hours to abstract review and selection and program planning and execution. We were greatly assisted by the staff of the Eighth National Conference, held in Salt Lake City in 1989, through sharing "lessons learned." Innovations such as the Selected Workshop Series and the Showcase of Programs and many other features of this conference are intended to build on what has happened before. Whether you are a new or "seasoned" professional in any of the numerous disciplines vital to this work or a volunteer interested in understanding child abuse and neglect or in the public's concern about this issue, we hope you feel welcome at the Ninth National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. This Resource Book is designed to serve as a resource for you as you participate in the conference, but more importantly to serve as an ongoing resource of information and individuals. We hope that each time it is used it will also rekindle the enthusiasm and renewed commitments felt while you experienced four days of learning, sharing and networking at the largest, most significant conference conducted for our field. 1 Contents A Brief History of Child Protection Selected Abstracts The abstract listings contain coded information at the top of each abstract. The first letter and number combination indicates the session in which the abstract is being presented. The second number is the abstract number assigned in sequential order as abstracts were :mbmitted for consideration for presentation. The final code indicates the category under which the abstract was submitted: PP - Program/Policy, PL - Policy, or R - Research. Bibliography All speakers were invited to submit entries for the bibliography which are their own published work and which pertain to their presentation topics. Indexes Topic Index by Abstract Number Categorical Index by Abstract Number Showcase of Programs Film Festival Participants Exhibitors 2 • Historical Background A Brief History of Child Protection For the field of child protection, "reaffirming our roots" is a reminder to consider what so many who worked before us brought to children, and how our own work evolved from that of the pioneers. Progenitors can be found in each of the traditions that help sustain current efforts to assure a safe and successful passage for children to adulthood. Universal education developed in the U.S. in the middle 1800's leading to extensive literacy and shared political values, effectively introducing the notion that children have a right of access to society. Public health efforts to assure clean water, sewage disposal, and safe eating establishments decreased communicable diseases and, with help later from the develop­ ing field of pediatrics, increased the vitamin value of milk, bread, and other basic foods essen­ tial to healthy growth. By the post-Civil War era, reformers concerned about abandoned children and infants in orphanages began to experiment with other placements. Some children were shipped from eastern cities to midwestern sites for adoption, while others continued to be placed as inden­ tured servants. The 1874 case of Mary Ellen marked the beginning of societies for the preven­ tion of cruelty to children when her "servitude," which began at 1 1/2 years of age, placed her in the hands of a caretaker who abused and starved her. This marked the beginning of the end of legal servitude for children and more attention to children in out of home care, but provided little focus on the possibility of harm within the natural home, especially in a country still quite rural and agricultural. Some in the developing field of social work were trying to strengthen natural families at home and in communities, while others continued the struggle to improve treatment for children who absolutely would be cared for in detention centers or other institu­ tions. Colorado's history of child protection contains many elements of the nation's history of child protection. The Colorado Constitution, enacted in 1876, still mandates that children under 12 may not be employed in mines, mirroring other early efforts to reduce child labor. At the national level, one benchmark of the concern about child labor was the creation of the Children's Bureau in 1909, the first major federal institution focusing exclusively on children. The first juvenile court effort in Colorado was underway in 1899, attempting to connect the courts and the schools, as Chicago was becoming the first city to create a juvenile court. On April 13, 1901, the Colorado General Assembly approved the creation of and appropriated funds for a Bureau of Child and Animal Protection. In the mid-1940's, Rene Spitz, M.D., described the "hospitalism" of institutionalized children, memorialized by the Rene Spitz Library at the University of Colorado. The Ameri­ can Humane Association brought nearly a century of work to prevent cruelty to children and animals when it moved to Colorado in 1954, at that time bringing early attention to the prob­ lems of child sexual abuse through the efforts of Vincent De Francis, M.S.W., J.D. In 1958, one of the nation's first three child protection teams began in Denver at University Hospital; in 1961 Henry Kempe, M.D., described the battered child syndrome, pairing medical findings and a discrepant history to achieve a scientifically-based diagnosis of non-accidental injury; and in 1963, Colorado became one of the first three states to mandate reporting of suspected child abuse: each of the three states reflecting the Children's Bureau's first model reporting statute. Within less than five years, all 50 states independently adopted reporting legislation. Federal legislation became more prominent in its impact in 1974 with The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (providing federal support for states enacting improved reporting laws as well as support for research and demonstration projects) and in 1980 with the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (providing incentives to prevent foster care and improve family services), both of which were subsequently further amended to respond to child abuse and improve permanency planning. Similar traditions were concurrently developing in nursing, special education, child development, child psychology and psychiatry, law enforcement, the common law, and many other traditions. Looking back, each of us par­ ticipating in the Ninth National Conference can take pride in being part of an effort which is still Ifdevelopmental, If but ever more promising for the future. 2 Selected Abstracts A.ll, #2, R INFORMATION NEEDS OF HISPANIC PARENTS OF INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN COil tact: Speakers: Dorothea Cudaback, PhD Dorothea Cudaback, PhD Col/ege of Natural Resource 101 Giall;nll; Hall Berkeley, CA 94720 415-642-2608 Hispanics are our fastest growing minority group. There are currently 19.4 million Hispanics living in the United States; 6.8 million of these are children younger than age 18. From 1987 to the year 2000, the Hispanic popula­ tion in the United States is expected to increase by more than one-third.