On Guard offers churches eight strategies for preventing child abuse and three for responding to it, helping to move church staff and leaders beyond fearful awareness to prayerful preparedness.

Each year, child protective services receive reports of child abuse and neglect involving six million children, and many more go unreported. The long-term human and fiscal consequences of child abuse and neglect are not relegated to the victims themselves-they also impact their families, future relationships, and society. In 1993, the National Research Council (NRC) issued the report, Under-standing Child Abuse and Neglect, which provided an overview of the research on child abuse and neglect. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research updates the 1993 report and provides new recommendations to respond to this public health challenge. According to this report, while there has been great progress in child abuse and neglect research, a coordinated, national research infrastructure with high-level federal support needs to be established and implemented immediately. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research recommends an actionable framework to guide and support future child abuse and neglect research. This report calls for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to child abuse and neglect research that examines factors related to both children and adults across physical, mental, and behavioral health domains-including those in child welfare, economic support, criminal justice, education, and health care systems-and assesses the needs of a variety of subpopulations. It should also clarify the causal pathways related to child abuse and neglect and, more importantly, assess efforts to interrupt these pathways. New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research identifies four areas to look to in developing a coordinated research enterprise: a national strategic plan, a national surveillance system, a new generation of researchers, and changes in the federal and state programmatic and policy response.

School professionals have a unique opportunity--and responsibility--to identify and respond to child abuse and neglect. This book provides a succinct review of current knowledge on child maltreatment and links it specifically to practical applications in the schools. Information and strategies are outlined to help school practitioners and other personnel identify signs of abuse, respond sensitively and effectively to student disclosures, and make critically important reporting decisions. Treatment options are discussed in depth, including guidelines for offering school-based clinical services and/or making referrals to outside providers. Other topics covered include consulting with teachers and parents, planning and implementing victimization prevention programs, and coping with "compassion fatigue." The book is illustrated throughout with clearly written, relevant case examples. Special features include reproducible overhead transparency masters for use in in-service training.

Designed to be used with A Coordinated Response to Child Abuse and Neglect: A Basic Manual, which provides the foundation for all community prevention, identification, and treatment efforts. Intended to be used by early childhood education professional in a variety of settings and programs, including: Head Start; private and public day care; part-day and school-based early childhood; before and after school programs for school-aged children; family child care homes and networks; and child care resource and referral agencies. Six charts, glossary, bibliography, and list of resources.