09/17/2026
🗣️ Child abuse prevention goes much deeper than responding after a child has already been harmed.
If we truly want to protect children, we have to be willing to look at the conditions surrounding families before they ever reach a crisis point. Financial hardship, housing instability, food insecurity, limited access to quality childcare, healthcare and mental health services, and high levels of caregiver stress are among the factors associated with increased risk for child abuse and neglect. At the same time, stable housing, economic support, accessible healthcare, quality education and childcare, and strong community support can serve as protective factors for families.
That means prevention is also about strengthening families.
As we enter another election season, take time to look beyond campaign slogans and examine what candidates actually propose for families and children. What are their documented positions on affordable and stable housing? Economic supports for struggling families? Access to healthcare and mental health care? Quality childcare and education? Schools, youth programs, community resources, and services that help parents before they reach a breaking point?
These issues may seem separate from child abuse prevention, but they are connected. The CDC specifically identifies strengthening families' economic security, increasing access to quality childcare and education, supporting parents, and creating safe, stable, nurturing environments as part of a comprehensive approach to preventing child abuse, neglect, and other adverse childhood experiences.
Protecting children isn't only about asking, "What do we do when abuse happens?" We also have to ask, "What can we do to help prevent families from reaching crisis in the first place?"
So as you make your own decisions at the ballot box, do your research. Look at the issues that directly affect the stability and well-being of children and families, compare candidates' documented positions, and decide which priorities matter to you.
Prevention starts upstream. Strong families, supported communities, and accessible resources are part of creating Safe Hearts and Strong Futures. 💙
