Do you know what a “tipping point” is? Malcolm Gladwell’s book by the same name has championed the idea in recent years: The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. How exciting to hear that a fellow Darkness to Light partner […]
As November draws to a close, many families spend time together and give thanks; November is also National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. It is an opportunity to bring awareness to the fact that in 2013, there were approximately 2.5 million children in the U.S. who experienced homelessness. According to Project Hope-Virginia, of those 2.5 million there […]
It’s a horrific issue that we sometimes become immune to in our line of work as child advocates. And while we talk about it on a regular basis, a fog of silence weighs on most people in our community when it comes to child sexual abuse. Last week’s article by Sarah Chang in the Washington Post […]
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and last week, on October 22nd, we wore purple to promote awareness. The color purple signifies “courage, persistence, honor, and the commitment to ending domestic violence” (NRCDV). Domestic violence is violence or physical abuse directed toward one’s spouse or intimate partner, and it causes more injuries each year to […]
The family reunification experience is a growing challenge for child welfare advocates, school districts and other service providers here in Northern Virginia and across the country. In the United States, 20% of children are growing up in immigrant homes and a large number of these children joined their parents after years of separation. They come to escape gangs, […]
September was Kinship Care month and also the first annual Kinship Symposium sponsored by the Northern Virginia Kinship Group. And like all other awareness months, it is more than that to those 2.7 million children that are cared for by relatives and close family friends. What is kinship care? Child Welfare Information Gateway defines it […]
One year ago this week, SCAN published its first white paper. In an effort to provide a deeper understanding of some of the complex issues we address in prevention and advocacy work, we continued to develop more in-depth tools for resource providers and child welfare advocates in our community. Since last fall, we’ve published two more papers. SCAN’s current […]
Earlier this week, a group of local service providers gathered in SCAN’s Community Training Room to learn about Operation Safe Babies. Although many come in to these events with some knowledge on safe sleep and abusive head trauma, there are always new issues discussed and important ideas shared. Everyone walks away with valuable information and resources to share as they work with the […]
A report recently published in Pediatrics and funded by the National Institutes of Health spotlights a troubling statistic: 20 percent of new moms said they did not receive advice from their doctors regarding current recommendations on issues like safe sleep and breastfeeding. This reflects a greater challenge we’ve noted in our community — new parents often feel isolated, […]
A new report from the Human Rights Projects for Girls and Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality calls for an overhaul of the U.S. criminal justice system “to identify and treat sexual abuse trauma that lies at the root of victimized girls’ arrests, particularly girls of color.” This summer, we’ve trained HUNDREDS of adults […]
Volunteers in our CASA Program are one of the most powerful examples of a positive adult connection in a child’s life we can think of. Our Kids Need Connections campaign celebrates the nurturing, transformative power of positive adult relationships in the lives of children. For abused and neglected children who already find themselves in the system, a CASA volunteer might be one […]
We’re wrapping up the first full week of Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time filled with planting pinwheel gardens to raise awareness, providing prevention trainings with partners in Alexandria and sharing our Kids Need Connections campaign materials with thousands across the region. But it’s important we pause in our hectic schedules to remember why we do […]
In October 2014, the Virginia Department of Social Services put out their Annual Report on Child Fatalities which reviews child and infant deaths in the previous year. Child fatality review teams set out to research and understand what is causing infant death in Virginia and if any of these deaths were preventable. This year, they […]
A recent report by The Children’s Advocacy Institute and First Star entitled “Shame on U.S.” puts the blame equally on all three branches of the U.S. government when it comes to failing to protect children from abuse and neglect: “Each branch of our federal government plays an integral role in the child welfare system, and […]
Last year more than a quarter million children were involved in human trafficking across the United States. And it can happen to any child in any community. There are risk groups (such as children with mental health issues, gang involvement and runaways) but local experts have seen cases with children of all ages, genders and socioeconomic […]
On Tuesday over 50 professional and community members who wish to be stronger advocates for children attended SCAN’s advocacy training event, Speak Up For Children!, a partnership between SCAN and Prevent Child Abuse Virginia. Christie Marra from the Virginia Poverty Law Center gave an engaging presentation about the legislative process and how advocates can influence […]
Our Alexandria/Arlington CASA volunteers are intimately aware of the local foster care system, its challenges, and its impact. As they work closely with families here in our community, we also keep an eye on foster care and adoption trends around the country, which is why this recent post from National CASA CEO Michael Piraino caught our eye. […]
With October — Domestic Violence Awareness Month — drawing to a close, it’s an important time for us to remember that there is no time limit on violence in the home. It happens all year long, in every community. And it always, always affects the children involved. Every year, 3 million children in the U.S. […]
Men and women who work directly with children and parents in our community often experience very different perspectives of the families they serve. Some work in the schools, others at health organizations, government agencies or any number of nonprofits. Yet many are serving families in crisis because of the same complex and tangled list of […]
This fall, SCAN published its first white paper for child and family welfare professionals. A resource focused on building resiliency in children through books, it includes research, directives, references and calls to action. It is the next step in a multi-year initiative to use SCAN’s “Kids Need Connections” campaign to educate and empower local parents […]
Recent headlines are bringing attention to the issue of corporal punishment. Surveys show that many parents in the U.S. use physical punishment to discipline their children, even though it has been shown to be no more effective than non-violent alternatives, and the harm it can cause is real. After 20 years of robust research, pediatricians, social workers, […]
The newest data from Kids Count, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is nothing short of staggering. There are so many factors to consider when service providers are trying to use best practices to help children grow up in safe, stable, nurturing homes. Or, when granting organizations and foundations are trying to determine […]
Today we welcome Hon. Tim Lovain as a guest blogger to share his experience working on an initiative to be intentional as a community when it comes to planning for and supporting the children of Alexandria, where he is a Councilman. In June, the Alexandria City Council and the Alexandria School Board approved the Children […]