Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (CBCAP)
Program Description
This program provides funding to States to develop, operate, expand, and enhance community-based, prevention-focused programs and activities designed to strengthen and support families to prevent child abuse and neglect. The program was reauthorized, amended and renamed as part of the CAPTA amendments in 2003. To receive these funds, the Governor must designate a lead agency to receive the funds and implement the program. Some of the core features of the program include:
- Federal, State, and private funds are blended and made available to community agencies for child abuse and neglect prevention activities and family support programs.
- An emphasis on promoting parent leadership and participation in the planning, implementation and evaluation of prevention programs.
- Interagency collaborations with public and private agencies in the States to form a child abuse prevention network to promote greater coordination of resources.
- Funds are used to support programs such as voluntary home visiting programs, parenting programs, family resource centers, respite and crisis care, parent mutual support, and other family support programs.
- A focus on the continuum of evaluation approaches which use both qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the effectiveness of the funded programs and activities.
Statistics
- It is estimated that over 184,000 families and over half a million children are served by CBCAP programs every year. This number does not include the hundreds of thousands of State residents who benefit from the child abuse prevention public awareness and education activities carried out by lead agencies every year.
- In FY2003, the Federal funds provided to the lead agencies leveraged over $315 million in State funds that were spent in the previous year for child abuse prevention related activities.
Budget Information
The program is funded at $42,859,000 for FY 2006.
- The additional funding will also assist States as they implement the new requirements for the program such as: enhancing the States’ evaluation capability; supporting the meaningful involvement of parents in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of funded programs and activities; promoting greater linkages with other systems change efforts such as the Child and Family Service Reviews; and supporting training and technical assistance for the lead agencies on provisions of the program and support ACF Priorities such as healthy marriage, responsible fatherhood, outreach to faith and community-based programs, positive youth development and the rural initiative.
Program Highlights
- The program provides vital support for child abuse prevention activities and leadership for coordinating these efforts across public and private agencies in the States.
- Families that typically receive services are: low-income parents and young parents, caregivers, children and adults with minimal education levels, families living in urban and rural areas, families from all ethnic groups, families with adults and children with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations.
