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Bridging the gap between research and public policy to improve the lives of children.

Early Life Adversity and Child Abuse Prevention

Child Maltreatment Prevention

-Parenting Across Cultures
Funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Parenting Across Cultures study involves an international group of researchers representing eight countries. The group is conducting the largest multi-cultural study to date to understand how parents' discipline strategies and other aspects of parent-child relationships affect children's development.

The researchers are conducting interviews with children, mothers, and fathers in eight countries (China, India, Italy, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, United States, and Thailand). Each interview lasts 1-2 hours and addresses questions related to parents' warmth, control, discipline strategies, attitudes, and beliefs and to children's behavior, attitudes, and beliefs. Initial interviews are being conducted in 2008, with follow-up interviews planned for 2009 and 2010.

Durham Family Initiative
The Durham Family Initiative (DFI) is a community-based effort to help families at risk of child abuse become self-sufficient and supportive of their children's growth and development; to help stressed neighborhoods become supportive environments for children and families; to help the Durham community support families and neighborhoods; and to help public and private service organizations integrate their services so they can most effectively help Durham's children and families.

- Mental Health Prevention Science for Child Maltreatment
This Career Development Award supports Dr. Berlin 's research in early child development and early intervention, and the prediction and prevention of child abuse and neglect.

-Project M.O.M.
Project M.O.M. (Making the Most of Motherhood) is a prospective longitudinal study of the predictors of problematic parenting, child maltreatment, and birth outcomes in 500 Durham mothers and their young children.

-Early Childhood Attachment
Read this brief on attachment theory and research; includes resources for parents, practitioners and researchers


Program Evaluation Projects

- Implementation of North Carolina's Multiple Response System (MRS) - The Center is conducting a comprehensive evaluation of North Carolina 's new child protective services effort called the Multiple Response System (MRS). MRS increases coordination between law enforcement agencies and child protective services, tailors its interventions to address the individual needs of families and uses other key strategies to protect children.

- Improving Child Welfare Outcomes through Systems of Care Through a Children's Bureau grant from the North Carolina Division of Social Services, the Center will develop an evaluation process to determine if a community-based, interagency Systems of Care can achieve positive outcomes for children and families involved with the child welfare agency and its partner agencies.

- Comprehensive Family Assessments to Improve Child Welfare Outcomes - The Center will partner with the Alamance County Department of Social Services to develop, implement, and evaluate an evidence-based model for conducting comprehensive family assessments, based on the Comprehensive Family Assessment Guidelines (CFA). The Alamance County Department of Social Services was awarded one of five national grants to demonstrate the use of Comprehensive Family Assessments to Improve Child Welfare Outcomes.