Missouri Children's Trust Fund

Governor Signs Proclamation for Prevention

Governor Matt Blunt recently presented a proclamation declaring April as Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month in Missouri.  He and First Lady Melanie Blunt were joined by representatives from several child serving agencies: Donna Puckett, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS); Susan Stoltz, State Technical Assistance Team (STAT); Maurine Hill, STAT; Denise Brown, STAT; Paula Neese, Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS); Dottie Mullikin, Missouri Department of Mental Health (DMH); Rodney Jones, STAT; Gus Kolilis, STAT; Kirk Schreiber, Children's Trust Fund (CTF); Doris Hallford, DSS; Gov. Matt Blunt; First Lady Melanie Blunt; Bill Dent, DSS; Vivian Murphy, Missouri Juvenile Justice Association (MJJA); Shelly Lock, Practical Parenting Partnerships (PPP); Jay Wood, Missouri KidsFirst (MKF); Dahna Willis, Kids Hope United; Peggy Krokstrom, CTF Board; Rep. Rick Stream, District 94; Patrice Mugg, CTF Board; Jennifer Toalson, MKF; Alicia Whitson, CTF; and Steve Bruce, Missouri Department of Public Safety (DPS) 

Senator Bond Celebrates CTF's 25th Anniversary

U.S. Senator Christopher 'Kit' Bond recently congratulated the Missouri Children's Trust Fund (CTF) for twenty-five years of service and leadership in helping Missouri's children and families and preventing child abuse and neglect.

A news conference hosted by St. Louis Children's Hospital brought together healthcare professionals, community leaders, CTF Board members and child advocates to highlight April as child abuse and neglect prevention month.   

“It will take all of us, the Trust Fund, hospitals, service providers and elected officials working together to continue to make progress,” said Bond.  “I am proud of our legacy, and I look forward to continuing our strong partnership for children,” Bond stated.

As a former Governor of Missouri, Senator Bond helped create CTF in 1983 by signing the original legistation into law to establish the organization.  Over the past 25 years, CTF, as Missouri's foundation for child abuse prevention, has awarded more than $35 million in child abuse prevention grants to community-based organizations throughout the state.  Among others, the grants help to develop effective and innovative home visitation programs for at-risk families, mentoring programs for teen mothers, safe crib programs, and respite care programs for families in crisis.  CTF also provides public education and awareness campaigns that address Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) prevention, safe sleep environments, positive parenting, the prevention of emotional abuse and neglect, and children being safe in or around vehicles.

CTF Board members and staff pictured with Sen. Bond:  Patrice Mugg, Peggy Krokstrom, Lynne Cooper, Nuzhat Nisar M.D., Dena Ladd, Sen. Bond, Paula Cunningham, Kirk Schreiber and Nanci Bobrow, Ph.D. 

April 18 Designated as 'Go Blue Day'

April has been designated as Child Abuse Neglect Prevention Month both nationally and in Missouri.  To recognize this special month, Friday, April 18, has been designated as Go Blue Day.  Missouri KidsFirst and the Children's Trust Fund, along with many prevention organizations across the state, encourage you to wear something blue on this day to show your support for Missouri’s kids and share with others about the importance of prevention.  Blue is the official color of child abuse and neglect prevention.

Related: Go Blue Day flyer
            Blue Ribbons For Kids

April is Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Month

It is the responsibility of each individual to prevent child abuse and neglect.  As a result, April is annually designated as Child Abuse Prevention Month. This year’s theme, Strong Families-Safe Kids, recognizes that the most important thing we can do to prevent child abuse is to support families. Prevention efforts are the best hope for eliminating child abuse in Missouri.

Missouri KidsFirst, in partnership with the Children’s Trust Fund, has developed a web-based child abuse prevention packet for individuals and communities to modify and use to support local child abuse prevention efforts. This packet is designed to help improve the safety and well being of children by offering parenting tips and ways to discuss how to bring communities together to prevent the abuse and neglect of Missouri’s children.  The toolkit may also be accessed by clicking the April is Child Abuse Prevention Month button on the CTF homepage.

If your agency is conducting events related to Child Abuse Prevention Month, and you would like to include them in the calendar of events, please complete the Activities Registration Form and return to Missouri KidsFirst.

Thank you for all you do to prevent child abuse!  Please share this message with your partners.

National Prevention Conference in May

A national-level conference devoted to the prevention of child abuse and neglect will be held May 19-22, 2008, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The conference entitled "Connecting the Dots - Turning Knowledge Into Action" and hosted by Prevent Child Abuse America, will focus on presenting a variety of evidence-based and innovative research and practices that can be useful to prevention and family support professionals including more than 90 workshops delivered by experts in areas such as effective prevention strategies and practices; research, knowledge and innovation; practical strategies for direct service provision; parent education and support; non-profit management, leadership and organizational culture; capacity building; and wellness. 

To take advantage of the earlybird registration rate, register by March 28th. 

Child Advocacy Day Scheduled

Mark you calendars to attend the 26th Child Advocacy Day scheduled for Tuesday, January 29, 2008 in Jefferson City.  The annual event, coordinated by the Missouri Alliance for Children, Youth and Families and the Missouri School-Age Community Coalition, begins at 9:00 a.m. in the Capitol Rotunda.  Child Advocacy Day is an opportunity for children and youth advocates to become better informed about issues, legislation and policies affecting children and provides advocates an opportunity to share their views with state legislators. Attendance at this event continues to increase with more than 800 people attending in 2007. Child Advocacy Day is free of charge and pre-registration is not required. [Schedule of events] [Read more]

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. 

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] 

Family Resource Center Presents Conference for Professionals

Register now for Remedies For Families and Children in a Socially Toxic World, Friday, November 16, 2007, St. Luke's Hospital, 232 South Woods Mill Road, Chesterfield.  This one day conference sponsored by Family Resource Center focuses on professionals who work with children and families.   The conference will provide solutions, strategies and tools to assist professionals with a better understanding of how to deal with the impact of trauma and violence on children, families and the community.  Nationally acclaimed child maltreatment expert and author, James Garbarino, Ph.D., will address the impact of family and community violence and abuse on child development and offer key interventions to deal with these effects. Registration fees have been reduced to $25 standard registration and $15 for students. 

MJJA to Offer Free Training on Adolescent Brain Development

The Missouri Juvenile Justice Association (MJJA) is pleased to present a one-day conference on Adolescent Brain Development –Best Practice for Juvenile Justice.  This informative event will be held at the Holiday Inn Select, Columbia, MO, on Friday, November 16, 2007.  Internationally acclaimed speaker, Dr. Linda Chamberlain, a health scientist specializing in childhood exposure to violence, will provide a dynamic look at new research surrounding adolescent brain development and the effects that violence, drug abuse, stress and other externals have on the adolescent brain.  The training is being underwritten by funds provided by the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group through the Missouri Department of Public Safety and the Office of Juvenile Justice Deliquency Prevention (OJJDP) and is offered free to participants. Registrations must be received by October 18 and is limited to the first 125 participants.  For additional information contact the MJJA office at (573) 636-6101.