Discusses child neglect prevention theory and research and reviews successful prevention programs. While child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, it often is not the focus of interventions. An approach in which child neglect is viewed as a product of parent, family, community, and societal factors is consistent with a broader view of the causes of neglect. Prevention strategies may be: universal, including programs that attempt to reduce poverty, violence, and family isolation; selected, including efforts to minimize the effects of poor housing conditions, financial difficulties, or inadequate transportation; or indicated, involving particular interventions to prevent further neglect. An impressive model child maltreatment program is Healthy Start in Hawaii, a multidisciplinary program that included at-risk screening when a child was born, nurse home visitations, coordination with other community services, and long-term follow up until the child reached age 5. Demonstration projects need to be designed to examine understudied factors such as the role of fathers; to reduce the impact of risk factors such as parental feelings of helplessness and poor community standards for child supervision; and to illustrate the effectiveness of community-based approaches that actively involve natural support systems like neighborhoods.
