Annotation: This report reviews a variety of child abuse prevention programs, their effectiveness and describes funding or other obstacles to wider implementation. GAO studied primary prevention programs in 8 states considered to be the leaders in the field: California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Washington. GAO visited 27 program sites, interviewed officials from 7 others that pulled in four additional states: Maryland, Colorado, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Some of the programs visited are summarized. In-depth discussion of programs in Hawaii and Elmira, New York is presented in the appendices, as is a list of all programs contacted by GAO. GAO found that federal funding for prevention is most often via short term grants, and only one state had its own statewide prevention program. The report compares this status to the federal costs paid for assistance to children after the abuse has occurred. The GAO recommendations and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services response are presented.
Contact: U.S. Government Accountability Office, 441 G Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20548, Telephone: (202) 512-3000 Secondary Telephone: E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: http://www.gao.gov Available from the website. Document Number: GAO/HRD-92-99.
Keywords: Child abuse, Community programs, Data, Department of Health and Human Services, Evaluation, Financing, Government Accounting Office, Injury prevention, Intervention, Monitoring, Prevention, Public policy, S, S, State plans, U, U
