Child Maltreatment Prevention in Rural Communities

Abstract

For more than half a century, child maltreatment prevention programs have been implemented in communities across America with hopes of stopping the abuse and neglect of children. To broaden the understanding of maltreatment in rural families, risk markers and protective factors are discussed with specific attention to contextual stressors and resources available in rural communities. Furthermore, primary maltreatment prevention initiatives directed at improving parenting practices and increasing public awareness of child maltreatment are reviewed. Also discussed are empirically supported secondary and tertiary maltreatment prevention programs that are commonly used to intervene with families at risk for interfacing with child welfare and protection agencies, or in instances of substantiated maltreatment. Preventing ill-treatment of children in rural communities requires ingenuity, community engagement and leadership, and governmental funding to best serve children and their families.