Missouri Children's Trust Fund

Investing in Parents so Children and Youth Succeed

The National Human Services Assembly (NHSA) Family Strengthening Policy Center is pleased to announce the release of "The Parenting Imperative:  Investing in Parents So Children and Youth Succeed."

Parents are one of the most important influences in positive child and youth development, yet too many caregivers lack the support they need.  By strengthening parents' connections to resources, communities can help children thrive. To inform policy, practice, and civic initiatives, the brief explains what a “parenting success” strategy looks like and how it can strengthen families and communities. Community groups and family-serving agencies will find best practices and recommendations for how to maximize impact.  For funding agencies and policy makers, this brief focuses on creating conditions for communities to respond to the parenting imperative.

This brief is the 22nd in a series on Family Strengthening produced by NHSA.

The Amazing Adolescent Brain

"The average human brain consists of approximately 3 pounds of jelly-like substance, contains 100 billion neurons, and can make 100 trillion connections...more connections than in all of the world wide web." This is according to Dr. Linda Chamberlain, founding director of the Alaska Family Violence Prevention Project and an epidemiologist specializing in childhood exposure to violence and brain development. 

Dr. Chamberlain recently spoke to over 100 professionals attending a workshop addressing adolescent brain development, which focused on the resliency of the human brain and how violence, including abuse, neglect, domestic and dating violence can impact the brain negatively. 

"The latest research indicates that an adolescent's brain is a work-in-progress that is more similar to the brain of a child than an adult."  According to Chamberlain, when pre-adolescents and adolescents are exposed to early traumatic and violent experiences, it dramatically increases the risks of substance abuse, eating disorders, teen pregnancy and other health and mental health issues including depression and suicide.

The one-day workshop held November 16 in Columbia, hosted by the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association (MJJA), was part of MJJA's Best Practices in Juvenile Justice Series.  The training, offered free to participants, was sponsored by the the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group through the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Office of Juvenile Justice Deliquency Prevention (OJJDP); and the Children's Trust Fund.  For additional resources on this and other topics visit CTF's resources and links page. 

Abuse Risks Increase as Families Change

David Crary, national writer with the Associated Press, explores the topic of how the risk of child abuse is directly affected by an ever-increasing share of America's children growing up in homes without both biological parents, and that the risk of child abuse is markedly higher in the nontraditional family structures.  [St. Louis Post Dispatch On-line]

World Child Abuse Prevention Day

November 19 is World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse.  The World Day, initiated by the Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF) in 2000, aims to create a culture of prevention around the world by encouraging governments and community/society organizations to play more active roles in protecting children.  Melissa Jonson-Reid, Ph.D., a child welfare expert and professor of social work at Washington University, St. Louis, offers several ways to become involved in preventing child maltreatment including purchasing a Children's Trust Fund license plate.

[Related link-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development]

Fraternal Order of Eagles Supports CTF

Each year the Missouri State Presidents of the Fraternal Order of Eagles help to raise money for a  'charity of choice'.  For 2007-2008, the Eagles chose the Children's Trust Fund (CTF) based on CTF's mission and focus on the prevention of child abuse and neglect in Missouri.  Founded in 1898, the National Fraternal Order of Eagles has grown to over 1 million members in 1,700 communities across the United States and Canada.  The Eagles' motto is  'people helping people', and they are very proud of their philanthropic work including raising millions to eliminate heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's research, and support of programs for seniors such as Meals On Wheels and many other charities.

Several fundraising events are planned in communities throughout the year.  One such event, a Hawaiian Luau and Silent Auction Fundraiser Hula for the Prevention of Child Abuse hosted by the Jefferson City Fraternal Order of Eagles, is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Friday, November 9, at the Eagles Banquet Room, 1411 Missouri Boulevard, in Jefferson City.  To inquire about other prevent child abuse fundraisers, please contact the local Fraternal Order of Eagles in your community.  All proceeds from the Eagles will be earmarked specifically to help crisis nursery/respite care prevention programs around the state.  Crisis nurseries provide short-term emergency care to children for families experiencing temporary hardship or crisis.

[Related article - Jefferson City News Tribune]
[Follow up article - Eagles Auxiliary Raises Funds - Jefferson City News Tribune]