Kauffman Best Practices Project Final Report - The Chadwick Center ...

Despite the emerging
evidence regarding
effective treatments,
there is a strong
perception by many
leaders in the field
that use of this
evidence in a reliable
way is still rare in
the child abuse field.
far more effectively than the mix of interventions traditionally relied upon
to treat child abuse victims. While there is still much to learn and current
knowledge has likely only begun to scratch the surface of understanding the
most effective means of helping these children and their families, it is clear
we now know enough about the outcomes of child abuse and efficacious
treatments to deploy those ideas across the nation in more systematic ways.
Despite the emerging evidence regarding effective treatments, there is a strong
perception by many leaders in the field that use of this evidence in a reliable
way is still rare in the child abuse field. The slow pace of diffusion of best
practices is not unique to child abuse or even mental health. Indeed, the
Institute of Medicine found that it requires 17 years for scientific knowledge
generated in randomized clinical trials to be routinely incorporated into
everyday medical practices across the nation (IOM, 2001). Likewise Torrey
and colleagues writing in Psychiatric Services, noted “practices validated by
research are not widely offered in routine mental health practices settings”
(Torrey, et al., 2001). The same is true in the child abuse field as evidence
based practices remain remarkably rare despite considerable publication in
peer reviewed journals, books, innumerable conference presentations and
available training.
In this context, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City
agreed to support the systematic identification of best practices on helping
children heal from the impact of child abuse, and spread those effective interventions.
This effort was conducted under the broad overview of the National
Call To Action: A Movement to End Child Abuse and Neglect (NCTA). The
National Call is an unprecedented collaboration of major national organizations
concerned with child abuse including Prevent Child Abuse America, the
National Children’s Alliance, the National Association of Children’s Hospitals
and Related Institutions, the American Medical Association, American
Academy of Pediatrics, Parents Anonymous, Child Welfare League of America,
Children’s Hospital-San Diego and others (see www.nationalcalltoaction.org).
This coalition is committed, in the decades ahead, to the long-term elimination
of child abuse. The Board of Directors of the National Call To Action quickly
realized that professional organizations were important but not enough to
achieve the mission. The Board concluded what was needed was a national
movement of those more personally affected by abuse: the survivors of abuse
and those parents whose children were touched by abuse. This component of
the National Call emerged in a shared leadership role as the “Authentic Voices”
and is serving as the epicenter of a nascent social movement that some day
will involve millions of Authentic Voices in a coordinated effort to end child
abuse through collective action, and social and political advocacy.
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