Be Involved in Your Regions’ CANPP Team
The Georgia Essentials Initiative is working with communities across the state to begin implementation of the plan’s objectives. There are 14 local regions across the state who developed their own prevention plan based off the state CANPP. Anyone is welcome to join and people can see their region’s full plans and strategies.
- Review your region’s plan and strategies (Find what region you are in!)
- Email [email protected] what region you are located in and which of the region’s strategies you would like to participate in.
Region 1
Region One includes the following counties: Catoosa, Chatooga, Cherokee, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Murray, Pickens, Walker, and Whitfield
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region One?
- Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 1: Expand trauma-informed practices and resources across the state as well as increase understanding about the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments (jointly referred to as the Pair of ACEs). - Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 2: Promote trauma-informed training for all school personnel (e.g., trauma-informed care, addressing implicit bias, empathy, prejudices, attribution). - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 3:Shape social norms about mental health and how to recognize and seek help for mental illness and substance abuse (e.g., Mental Health First Aid) as well as how to support mental health development. - Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 4:Expand efforts to develop safe and decent affordable housing for families.
Region 2
Region Two includes the following counties: Banks, Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union and White.
Download Region Two’s Full Plan
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Two?
- Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 1: Promote policies that ensure at-risk families receive evidence-based parenting education. - Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 2: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the incidence and long-term impact of childhood abuse and neglect, as well as how to accurately recognize and report suspected cases. - Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 3: Expand efforts to develop safe and decent affordable housing for families. - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 4: Promote the development of transition plans for state-placed children and youth (e.g., Department of Juvenile Justice, Division of Family and Children Services), and engage families in the planning process. - Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 5: Expand trauma-informed practices and resources across the state as well as increase understanding about the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments.
Region 3
Region Three includes the following counties: Bartow, Douglas, Floyd, Haralson, Paulding, and Polk.
Download Region Three’s Full Plan
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Three?
- Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 1: Promote trauma informed training for all school personnel and/or youth serving programs (e.g., trauma-informed care, addressing implicit bias, empathy, prejudices and attribution). - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 2: Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help parents/caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development. - Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 3: Expand trauma-informed practices and resources across the state as well as increase understanding about the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments (jointly referred to as the Pair of ACEs). - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 4: Expand specialty/accountability courts (drug, mental health, family treatment) with an emphasis toward ensuring access to behavioral health treatment for all families.
Region 4
Region Four includes the following counties: Butts, Carroll, Coweta, Fayette, Heard, Henry, Lamar, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding, Troup, and Upson
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Four?
- Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 1: Increase life-skills training for school-aged children and youth (e.g., financial literacy as a core competency). - Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 2: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the incidence and long-term impact of childhood abuse and neglect, as well as how to accurately recognize and report suspected cases. - Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 3: Expand access to affordable childcare for parents who are working or in school, especially for lower income and hourly-wage-earning families.
Region 5
Region Five includes the following counties: Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Rockdale, and Walton
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Five?
- Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 1: Expand trauma-informed practices and resources across the state as well as increase understanding about the and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments (jointly referred to as the Pair of ACEs). - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 2: Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help parents/caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development. - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 3: Decrease family violence through the adoption and promotion of evidence-based practices and approaches. - Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 4: Expand efforts to develop safe and decent affordable housing for families.
Region 6
Region Six includes the following counties: Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Jasper, Jones, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs, and Wilkinson
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Six?
- Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 1: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the incidence and long-term impact of childhood abuse and neglect, as well as how to accurately recognize and report suspected cases. - Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 2: Expand local collaborations and advocacy across sectors (i.e., nonprofit, government, faith, business) aimed at strengthening families, developing solutions to local challenges, and identifying champions for promoting prevention policies. - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 3: Promote resilience strategies for children and youth (e.g., stress management, coping, skills development, problem-solving, skills development).
Region 7
Region Seven includes the following counties: Burke, Columbia, Glascock, Hancock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Screven, Taliaferro, Warren, Washington, and Wilkes
View Region Seven’s Full Plan.
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Seven?
- Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 1: Promote policies that ensure at-risk families receive evidence-based parenting education. - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 2: Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help parents/caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development. - Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 3: Promote poverty-informed training for local and state policymakers.
Region 8
Region Eight includes the following counties: Chattahoochee, Clay, Crisp, Dooly, Harris, Macon, Marion, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, and Webster
View Region Eight’s Full Plan.
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Eight?
- Objective: Increase economic family stability.
Strategy 1:Increase life-skills training for school-aged children and youth (e.g., financial literacy as a core competency). - Objective: Increase family mental well-being.
Strategy 2: Promote trauma-informed training for personnel in all youth-serving programs and all school personnel (e.g., trauma-informed care, addressing implicit bias, empathy, prejudices, attribution). - Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 3: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the incidence and long-term impact of childhood abuse and neglect, as well as how to accurately recognize and report suspected cases.
Region 9
Region Nine includes the following counties: Appling, Bleckley, Candler, Dodge, Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Pulaski, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Wayne, Wheeler, and Wilcox
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Nine?
- Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 1: Increase life-skills training for school-aged children and youth (e.g., financial literacy as a core competency). - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 2: Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help parents and caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development. - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 3: Increase access to low/no-cost community-based health services for low income families (e.g., substance-abuse recovery programs).
Region 10
Region Ten includes the following counties: Baker, Calhoun, Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Seminole, Terrell, Thomas, and Worth
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Ten?
- Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 1: Increase life-skills training for school-aged children and youth (e.g., financial literacy as a core competency). - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 2: Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help parents and caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development. - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 3: Increase access to low/no-cost community-based health services for low income families (e.g., substance-abuse recovery programs).
Region 11
Region Eleven includes the following counties: Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Tift, Turner, and Ware
View Region Eleven’s Full Plan.
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Eleven?
- Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 1: Increase life-skills training for school-aged children and youth (e.g., financial literacy as a core competency). - Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 2: Expand efforts to develop safe and decent affordable housing for families. - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 3: Expand substance-abuse prevention programs aimed at school-aged children and youth. - Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 4: Expand access to affordable childcare for parents who are working or in school, especially for lower income and hourly-wage earning. - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 5: Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help parents/caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development.
Region 12
Region Twelve includes the following counties: Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, and McIntosh
View Region Twelve’s Full Plan.
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Twelve?
- Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 1: Expand efforts to develop safe and decent affordable housing for families. - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 2: Promote resilience strategies for children and youth (e.g. stress management, coping, skills development,
problem-solving). - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 3: Promote trauma-informed training for all school personnel (e.g. trauma-informed care, addressing implicit
bias, empathy, prejudices, attribution).
Region 13
Region Thirteen includes the following counties: Clayton, Cobb, and Gwinnett
View Region Thirteen’s Full Plan.
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Thirteen?
- Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and
neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 1: Expand trauma-informed practices and resources across the state as well as increase understanding about
the and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments (jointly referred to as
the Pair of ACEs). - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 2: Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help
parents/caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development. - Objective: Increase family mental health.
Strategy 3: Promote resilience strategies for children and youth (e.g. stress management, coping, skills development,
problem-solving, skills development).
Region 14
Region Fourteen includes the following counties: DeKalb and Fulton
View Region Fourteen’s Full Plan.
What Strategies Were Adopted by Region Fourteen?
- Objective: Increase community knowledge and awareness of the societal factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect and the capacity to prevent it.
Strategy 1: Promote child-friendly and trauma-aware practices in the courts, law enforcement, and corrections systems. - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 2: Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help parents/caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development. - Objective: Increase family resiliency.
Strategy 3: Promote policies that ensure at-risk families receive evidence-based parenting education. - Objective: Increase family economic stability.
Strategy 4: Expand efforts to develop safe and decent affordable housing for families.
If you are part of the CANPP regional work, you are able to request support on prevention communication, data and evaluation, policy, programs, connecting to resources (ex: data for grant proposals, advocacy and informing policy, local statistics, and more) using THIS FORM.
Spark a discussions among colleagues, friends, neighbors, and community members by hosting an Inclusivv conversation based on different strategies presented in Georgia ‘s Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Plan (CANPP).What Are Georgia's Goals for Prevention?
When we come together with a common cause, we can make important conditions a reality. The following overarching goals reflect what the results of our collective action regarding Georgia’s families, systems/governments, and society must achieve in the next 10 years (2020–2029). This project is being lead by Georgia Essentials for Childhood.
Strategies to Increase Mental Health
See how Georgia’s 2022 Mental Health Parity law aligns with the state’s child abuse and neglect prevention plan HERE.
View Brief on Family Behavioral Health and Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention
- Expand access to First Episode Psychosis (FEP) programs
- Expand specialty/accountability courts (e.g., drug, mental health, family treatment) with an emphasis toward ensuring access to behavioral-health treatment for all families
- Expand substance-abuse-prevention programs aimed at school-aged children and youth
- Implement and expand the use of evidence-based practices and approaches to reduce opioid addiction in youth and young adults (e.g., screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment; behavioral therapy)
- Implement evidence-based school-climate improvement strategies and frameworks in all schools (e.g., anti-bullying programs; positive behavioral interventions and supports; social–emotional engagement, knowledge, and skills)
- Implement practices shown to strengthen parent–infant attachment in the NICU (e.g., shared reading, Kangaroo Mother Care)
- Implement tele-/web-based mental-health and substance-abuse resources in underserved communities, and identify other strategies to make services more accessible (e.g., mobile clinics, Uber Health)
- Increase access to low-/no-cost community-based behavioral-health services for low-income families (e.g., substance-abuse recovery groups)
- Integrate practices that are designed to strengthen caregiver–child attachment relationship along the child-development continuum (e.g. Home Visiting, positive behavioral interventions and supports)
- Promote and expand evidence-based suicide-prevention practices and approaches
- Promote awareness and adoption of mental-health resilience strategies targeting at-risk youth (e.g., prevention clubhouses)
- Promote evidence-based behavioral health training, assessment, and treatment models for all ages (e.g., trauma-informed care, addressing implicit bias, empathy, prejudices, attribution)
- Promote policies and approaches to ensure medical co-payments and the authorization of services by insurance companies are not barriers to mental-health treatment
- Promote resilience strategies for children and youth (e.g. stress management, coping skills development, problem-solving skills development)
- Promote the inclusion of social–emotional learning in curriculum requirements
- Promote trauma-informed training for all school personnel (e.g., trauma-informed care, addressing implicit bias, empathy, prejudices, attribution)
- Promote trauma-informed training for personnel in all youth-serving programs (e.g., trauma-informed care, addressing implicit bias, empathy, prejudices, attribution)
- Screen, assess, and monitor language skills of all state-placed children and adolescents (e.g., Department of Juvenile Justice, Division of Family and Children Services)
- Shape social norms about mental health and how to recognize and seek help for mental illness and substance abuse (e.g., Mental Health First Aid) as well as how to support mental-health development
- Train mental-health providers to complete valid and reliable brief language screening (e.g., Children’s Communication Checklist, Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals) for children and adolescents as well as how to apply findings as part of the diagnostic process
Strategies to Increase Economic Stability
- Expand efforts to develop safe and decent affordable housing for families
- Adopt/promote evidence-based family-friendly business policies (e.g., family leave, release time to attend parent–teacher conferences, on-site childcare)
- Expand programs and practices aimed at parents who are “returning citizens” (i.e., formerly incarcerated adults)
- Expand access to affordable childcare for parents who are working or in school (e.g., tax breaks for companies that offer on-site or subsidized childcare), especially for lower-income and hourly-wage-earning families
- Expand non-traditional programs and approaches to earn high-school diplomas (e.g., technical colleges)
- Expand opportunities for youth to explore career options before high-school graduation
- Expand small-business development and support programs
- Increase access to secondary (e.g., GED and high-school diplomas) and post-secondary degrees and certificate programs
- Increase adult literacy though the adoption and promotion of evidence-based practices and models
- Increase life-skills training for school-aged children and youth (e.g., financial literacy as a core competency)
- Identify and promote efforts to increase wages so that full-time employment does not result in households living at or below the federal poverty level
- Promote poverty-informed training for local and state policy makers
- Promote the development of positive and safe workplaces
Opportunities for Georgia
Investing in families starts with believing in families.
20% of children are living in poverty ($25,000/year for a family of four). Although poverty does not cause child abuse or neglect, children living in low-income families are at a greater risk of child maltreatment due to lack of resources and the stressors of poverty. Specifically, a $1 increase in the minimum wage implies a statistically significant 9.6% decline in neglect reports. This decline is concentrated among young children (ages 0–5) and school-aged children (ages 6–12); the effect diminishes among adolescents and is not significant.
- For every $7 put towards foster care $1 is invested in prevention services. Imagine if we flipped that.
- Many studies are showing that when we invest more in concrete economic supports for families we see significant decreases in child maltreatment reports and foster care entries.
- Getting proximate to the children and families we serve allow us to learn from their expertise and identify solutions to improve child and family well-being.
Resources:
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Groundwork Collaborative’s webinar, Racial Equity and the Federal Reserve: Centering Black Workers for a Stronger Labor Market. Access it here.
Chaplin Hall at the University of Chicago and the Center for the Study of Social Policy, The Intersection of Economic Insecurity and Child Welfare Involvement. Access it here.
Strategies to Increase Family Resiliency
- Expand evidence-based afterschool, out-of-school, and summer programs
- Decrease family violence through the adoption and promotion of evidence-based practices and approaches
- Increase access to evidence-based or research-informed programs for parenting skills and support that help parents/caregivers understand all stages of their child’s development
- Increase access to family-support services in emergency rooms and urgent-care facilities
- Promote access to broadband internet technology for parents and caregivers to secure appropriate child-development tools and resources
- Promote and expand comprehensive and specialized supports for families of children with disabilities
- Promote policies that ensure at-risk families receive evidence-based parenting education
- Promote strategies to ensure families can quickly recover from natural disasters and public-health crises
- Promote the development of transition plans for state-placed children and youth (e.g., Department of Juvenile Justice, Division of Family and Children Services), and engage families in the planning process
- Promote, link, and support information and referral systems
- Shape social norms around positive parenting and family help-seeking in times of need (e.g., public-awareness campaigns)
Research shows that just one nurturing caregiver in the life of a child can help prevent or mitigate the impact of early trauma.
- Balancing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) With HOPE– New Insights into the Role of Positive Experience on Child and Family Development
- Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Mental and Relational Health in a Statewide Sample–
Associations Across Adverse Childhood Experiences Levels
Strategies to Increase Access to Early Care and Education
- Develop and promote incentives for expanding childcare businesses in underserved communities
- Expand eligibility to Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS)
- Expand opportunities for childcare-enrollment assistance
- Increase access to Quality Rate early care and learning programs across the state
- Promote and support early brain development and language nutrition practices and models
- Promote universal developmental screenings and early intervention service access
- Provide language nutrition coaching and training for workforces and groups that interact with caregivers and babies (e.g., Talk with Me Baby)
- Shape social norms around the positive life-long impact of early-childhood education
- Support elementary schools in accessing pre-K slots in communities with limited infrastructure for early-childhood education
Opportunities for Georgia
Strategies to Increase Family Health
- Expand access to affordable health-insurance coverage for all Georgians
- Expand telemedicine services
- Improve access to maternal and infant health services (especially among minority populations) in order to reduce infant and maternal mortality
- Increase efforts to ensure school buses are safe (e.g., bus monitors)
- Increase focus on school-safety planning and practices (e.g., increased security technology) to focus on positive school climate and the development of Safe School Plans
- Promote and expand the participation of families in the Planning for Healthy Babies (P4HB) waiver program
- Promote evidence-based models of sexual-health education and adolescent pregnancy prevention for school-aged children and youth
- Promote gun-safety practices and policies
- Promote policies and approaches to ensure medical co-payments and the authorization of physical health services by insurance companies are not barriers to treatment
- Promote strategies and programs aimed at increasing food sufficiency
- Promote strategies to enhance transportation safety
- Increase awareness of prenatal support resources
Opportunities for Georgia
7.4% of Georgia’s kids don’t have health insurance (4th highest in the nation) and 22% have a parent who is not insured.
A 2019 study looked at physical abuse and neglect rates of children younger than six in the 31 states with expanded Medicaid compared to the 19 states without expanded programs.
Researchers found the rate of child neglect in Medicaid-expansion states decreased by more than three times the rate of the remaining non-expansion states.
Medicaid expansion provides caregivers with access to healthcare services, including access to mental health care and treatment. Additionally, expansion of the program allows states to receive federal funds that could cover additional services that can affect a parents’ ability to provide for their child. Future studies are expected to look at whether expanding Medicaid (and improved access to funded services) is actually the catalyst for reduced rates of child neglect and whether pursuing this option could be a way to reduce the rate of child neglect in states that have not yet opted to expand the program.
Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6575148/
Georgia is working to best structurally allow for telehealth. Telehealth expansion would give physical and mental health care access to many living in rural Georgia. To ensure the benefits of telehealth reach all areas of Georgia, broadband throughout the state will be necessary. This measure would support both the health of Georgians and small business in the state, both of which are priorities of Governor Kemp. Telehealth expansion could bring care to the 60 counties without a pediatrician or to the 76 without an OB/GYN care provider. Expanding care through telemedicine means care for children and families living in rural Georgia.
Strategies to Increase Community Awareness of Societal Factors that can Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect
- Enhance knowledge of effective framing and messaging of prevention information and policies
- Ensure medical professionals (e.g., nurses) are educated about the recognition of child abuse, accurate reporting, and trauma-informed care (e.g., addressing implicit bias, empathy, prejudices, attribution)
- Expand funding of programs and services for the prevention of child abuse and neglect, and promote policies that expand evidence-based resources across the state
- Expand local collaborations and advocacy across sectors (i.e., nonprofit, government, faith, business) aimed at strengthening families, developing solutions to local challenges, and identifying champions for promoting prevention policies
- Expand trauma-informed practices and resources across the state as well as increase understanding about the prevalence and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments (jointly referred to as the Pair of ACEs)
- Increase awareness about human trafficking and related evidence-based prevention strategies
- Increase community knowledge and awareness of the incidence and long-term impact of childhood abuse and neglect, as well as how to accurately recognize and report suspected cases
- Promote child-friendly and trauma-aware practices in the courts, law enforcement, and corrections systems
- Promote public policies and practices that are broadly supportive of children and caregivers including those addressing father engagement and nontraditional families
- Promote quality standards for providers of prevention programs
- Use data to inform the development of prevention practices, programs, and strategies (including child death review data)
- Expand the delivery of evidence-based sexual-abuse prevention training for adults and awareness education for children and youth
Opportunities for Georgia
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| Mailing: | P.O. Box 3995 Atlanta, GA 30302 |
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Prevent Child Abuse Georgia is not a child abuse and neglect reporting agency. To make a report of child abuse and neglect in Georgia, visit cps.dhs.ga.gov, or call the 24/7 reporting hotline 1-855-GACHILD (1-855-422-4453).
Looking for resources to help a family? Visit Find Help Georgia.