Previous volumes of The Future of Children examined primarily what happens to children and their families after the children are maltreated, but none explored how maltreatment might have been averted before it came to the attention of Child Protective Services. Contributors to the current volume present the best available research on policies and programs designed to prevent maltreatment. They examine the gradual and still partial shift in the field of child maltreatment toward a prevention perspective and explore how insights into the risk factors for maltreatment can help target prevention efforts to the most vulnerable children and families. They assess whether a range of specific programs, such as community-wide interventions, parenting programs, home-visiting programs, treatment programs for parents with drug and alcohol problems, and school-based educational programs on sexual abuse, can prevent maltreatment. They also explore how CPS agencies, traditionally seen as protecting maltreated children from further abuse and neglect, might take a more active role in prevention.
