The tragic consequences of child neglect suggest that significantly greater efforts should be directed toward prevention. Prevention requires the development of a range of services to parents at risk of neglect and their children, who are potential victims. Prevention of neglect requires action on three levels:

Primary prevention is directed at the general population with the goal of stopping neglect from occurring.

Secondary prevention calls for targeting families at high risk of neglect and alleviating conditions associated with the problem.

Tertiary prevention entails targeting services to neglecting parents and their children to remedy the neglect and its consequences on the children and prevent its recurrence.

Prevention of neglect requires action on all three levels.

Primary Prevention

Primary prevention of neglect requires public education efforts through media, especially television, to raise the awareness of the general public and decision makers about the enormous dimensions of child neglect in the United States, its strong association with being poor and disadvantaged, and its damaging effects on children. Communities must understand the need for more adequate public programs and services to support parents in their efforts to care for children. All parents need support and help with the very demanding job of nurturing children. Public education must also seek to raise the consciousness of professionals, of parents, and their potentially supportive neighbors, friends, and relatives about the needs of children to be physically and emotionally nurtured and educated.

Primary prevention requires that public services be available in the community to support the efforts of parents to provide adequate care for their children. When these services are unavailable to parents, children are at risk for neglect. The necessary services include the following:

Affordable, geographically accessible health care for mothers and children that includes prenatal and obstetric care, preventive pediatric care and treatment for illness, public health screening, health promotion, and immunization and other disease prevention services.

High-quality public education with curricula that includes age-appropriate life skills training for children and parent education for all older elementary and high school students and adults.

Parks and recreation programs for children of all ages offered through public and private agencies to provide safe activities to enhance physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development and after school supervision for school-aged children.

Secondary Prevention

The targeting of high-risk groups to prevent the occurrence of neglect encompasses a range of strategies.

Remedying Poverty

Preventing neglect requires attention to the strong association between child neglect and poverty. The majority of families reported for neglect are also poor. The rate of known neglect is reported to be nine times as great among families with incomes under $15,000 per year as those with incomes over $15,000 per year. Over 20 percent of all children in the United States, 45 percent of Afro-American children, and almost 40 percent of Hispanic children are at high-risk of neglect because they live in poverty. Poverty creates stress that often overwhelms the coping abilities of parents.

Preventing neglect among the poor requires the provision of adequate income supplements and food; affordable housing, health care, and child day care; education; job training; and employment opportunities.

Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education programs for preschool children have documented their effectiveness in significantly enhancing the cognitive and social development of children from impoverished families. Numerous studies have documented the significant and enduring improvements in intelligence, cognitive development, academic achievement, child health, and social emotional development for children who were enrolled in full-year Head Start preschool programs. Given the serious cognitive and academic deficits identified in child victims of neglect, the provision of preschool early intervention programs, such as Head Start, is clearly indicated for neglected children. The High Scope/Perry Preschool Program, the Houston Parent-Child Development Center Project, and the Carolina Early Intervention Program have demonstrated cost-effective results for as long as 25 years after the preschool child's participation in the program. When compared with children from poor families who did not participate in the program, children who participated in the Perry Preschool Program were clearly more successful and manifested less problem behavior in school. At age 19 the children who participated were more likely to be employed, less likely to be on welfare, and were less likely to be involved in delinquency or criminal behavior.

Although high-quality early childhood intervention programs such as these cost about one-and-a-half times the normal per pupil expenditure in the United States, the Perry Program demonstrated cost effectiveness. For every dollar invested in the 30-week Perry Program for children at age 4, taxpayers received almost $6.00 in benefits from savings in K-12 educational expenditures, crimes prevented, and decreased welfare payments, and from increased taxes paid on higher wages earned by the graduates of the program.

Tags: Child Abuse

About the Author

Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.