Select Definitions

• Caregiver – A person in a permanent or temporary custodial role who is responsible for a child’s care and welfare. This may include parents, relatives, teachers, coaches, babysitters, or residential staff.
• Child abuse – Deliberate words or actions that cause or threaten harm. Intent applies to the action, not necessarily its consequences. Includes physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.
• Child maltreatment / child abuse & neglect (CAN) – Acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that result in harm, potential harm, or threat of harm to a child younger than 18.
• Child maltreatment surveillance & data infrastructure – Ongoing collection and analysis of data for planning, implementation, and evaluation. Data may come from child protective services, health systems, law enforcement, schools, and other sources with implications for consistency in definitions, secure linkage, privacy protections, and governance.
• Child neglect – Failure to meet a child’s physical, emotional, medical, dental, or educational needs or protect the child from harm. Includes failure to provide and failure to supervise.
• Online child sexual exploitation – Technology-facilitated sexual abuse or exploitation, including enticement, coercion, sexualized recording, sharing child sexual abuse material, or trafficking.
• Risk & protective factors – Risk factors increase the likelihood of maltreatment, while protective factors reduce it.

Visual Aid: Child Maltreatment Prevention Service Continuum

Relevant Federal Funding Streams

• Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) / CAPTA – Provides federal funding to support community-based, prevention-focused programs and activities that strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect.
• Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) and Title IV-E – FFPSA amended Title IV-E to create a federal funding pathway for states and tribes to receive reimbursement for certain evidence-based prevention services designed to help prevent children from entering foster care.
• Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) – provides support for voluntary, evidence-based home visiting for eligible expectant families and families with young children in at-risk communities.

Research Translation Platform (RTP) Fact Sheets

• Prevention Services Under Family First: Evidence on Costs and Outcomes
• Housing Instability among Child Welfare System-Involved Families
• Significant Benefits of Positive Parenting Support Programs
• Optimizing Investments in Youth Mental and Behavioral Health
• Modernizing Child Welfare Data Systems to Improve Transparency and Accountability
• Artificial Intelligence and Youth Wellbeing
• Social Media and Protecting Youth Mental Health and Well-Being

Additional Resources

• Child Safety Online: A Legislative Landscape (The Kempe Center & Farley Health Policy Center)
• Ensuring Child Safety Online (The Kempe Center & Farley Health Policy Center)
• Family Well-being Indicators (Prevent Child Abuse America) – state and regional data dashboard
• Establishing Community Pathways to Prevention Services (Chapin Hall)
• Financing Strategies for State Child Welfare Systems (NCSL)
• State Policy Options to Increase Access to Economic & Concrete Supports as a Child Welfare Prevention Strategy (Chapin Hall) – policy tool
• Policy Levers for Preventing Child Maltreatment (NCSL) – includes lessons learned from research and takeaways for policymakers
• Flexible Funds for Concrete Supports to Families as a Child Welfare Prevention Strategy (Chapin Hall)