News

May 28, 2024

State Accepting Applications for Children’s Trust Fund Grants

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) is accepting applications for Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) grants to promote primary and secondary child abuse and neglect prevention programs in community-based settings. 

Learn More

The purpose of the grants is to prevent the abuse or neglect of children in Pennsylvania. Any organization located and operating in Pennsylvania that provides direct services and meets specific criteria can apply for a grant. The grants operate under the administration of the CTF Board and DHS.

The CTF, which was established in 1988, operates under the administration of the CTF Board and is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). Funds for the CTF are generated from a $10 surcharge on all applications for marriage licenses and divorce complaints. The surcharges are paid into a nonlapsing fund.

Requirements

Applicants must plan to deliver an evidence-based program focusing on the parent/primary caregiver and their child, or the whole family. The applicant must provide evidence of the program’s effectiveness. Applicants can propose a home-grown program if evidence shows a positive outcome towards child abuse prevention or reduction. However, the program may not focus solely on the child.

Proposed programs should work with families over a period of time, rather than provide information or education during a single instance. CTF funding is intended to assist with providing a new service for families in a community or an expansion of service to an underserved or underrepresented demographic within a currently-served community. 

The application deadline is June 18. More information on the application process can be found on the eMarketPlace website or by emailing rolease@pa.gov.

News

July 11, 2023

The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Prevention Tactics

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have a lasting impact on a child’s life.

Fortunately, agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide strategies and resources to help define ACEs and to help caregivers and child care providers prevent traumatic experiences as much as possible before they happen, identify children whom have experienced ACEs, and respond to these experiences using trauma-informed approaches.

What are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)?

ACEs are traumatic events or circumstances that occur during childhood. These experiences can range from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, household substance abuse, domestic violence, and parental separation or divorce, among others.

Through research conducted by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente, it has been revealed that traumatic experiences have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity.

ACEs can vary depending on the child and environment in which the child grows and learns. Some experiences can be witnessed directly, such as experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect or witnessing violence in the home or community. These experiences can also include aspects of the child’s environment that take away from a child’s sense of safety, stability, and bonding.

ACEs and associated social determinants of health, such as living in under-resourced or racially segregated neighborhoods, can cause toxic stress (extended or prolonged stress). Toxic stress from ACEs can negatively affect children’s brain development, immune systems, and stress-response systems.

Recognizing and addressing ACEs is important for promoting individual and societal well-being. Creating safe and nurturing environments for children, ensuring access to quality healthcare and mental health services, and implementing trauma-informed approaches in various settings are vital steps in preventing and addressing ACEs.

Risk Protective Factors

Risk factors are defined as things that increase the likelihood of experiencing ACEs. Protective factors are defined as things that protect people and decrease the possibility of experiencing ACEs. Individual, family, and community factors can affect the likelihood of these experiences, but they may or may not be direct causes of ACEs. Because ACEs include many different types of experiences and traumatic events, there are many risk and protective factors that apply to the range of different ACEs.

Learn more about Individual, Family, Community Risk and Protective Factors from the CDC.

Prevention Strategies for Children

CDC has developed a resource to help states and communities take advantage of the best available evidence to prevent ACEs. It features six strategies from the CDC Technical Packages to Prevent Violence.

  • Strengthen Economic Supports to Families: Community organizations such as faith-based and youth-serving organizations can promote policies that support families facing financial problems or help parents balance work and family responsibilities, which reduce stress and allow parents to meet children’s basic needs.
  • Promote Social Norms That Protect Against Violence and Adversity: Encourage community organizations such as youth-serving and faith-based organizations, coaches, and caregivers to promote non-violent attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.
  • Ensure a Strong Start for Children: Involved parents, strong preschool programs, and good quality childcare get children started on the right foot and help them succeed later in life. Youth-serving and faith-based organizations can contribute to this as well.
  • Teach Healthy Relationship Skills: Children and caregivers can both learn how to create healthy relationships and manage their emotions.
  • Connect Children to Caring Adults and Activities: Community organizations connect young people with positive role models and provide activities for young people to learn leadership and other new skills. Communities can help young people grow and succeed at school and in life, such as getting children involved in after-school activities.
  • Intervene to Lessen Immediate and Long-Term Harms: When ACEs occur, community organizations, can offer services and support to reduce harms and help break the cycle of adversity, including providing therapy to reduce symptoms of depression, fear or anxiety, and behavior problems.

By recognizing and addressing ACEs, parents and child care providers can create a bright future for children and promote resilience, healing, and well-being.

Visit the CDC website for more information about childhood trauma prevention and ACEs Resources.

News

July 7, 2023

PA DHS Accepting Applications for Children’s Trust Fund Grants

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) is accepting applications for the Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) grants to promote primary and secondary child abuse and neglect prevention programs in community-based settings in order to address child and family well-being and prevent abuse and neglect of children in the Commonwealth. The maximum CTF grant award is $50,000 per year.

About the Children’s Trust Fund Grants

The mission of the Pennsylvania Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) is to prevent child abuse and neglect in Pennsylvania. To do this, the CTF Board of Directors funds community-based primary and secondary prevention programs that support families.

The CTF was established in December 1988 by Act 1988-151. It operates under the administration of the CTF Board and is supported by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), a dual deputate of the Department of Human Services (DHS) the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).

Funds for the CTF are generated from a $10 surcharge on all applications for marriage licenses and divorce complaints. These surcharges are paid into a special non-lapsing fund. Interest, donations and federal funds also contribute to the CTF.

The CTF is dedicated to funding community-based programs to prevent child abuse and neglect. Since its inception, the CTF has invested more than $37 million through 295 grants. See the list of current grantees.

The CTF also supports the work of the Pennsylvania Strengthening Families Leadership Team.

How to Apply

Application details and forms are available at the eMarketPlace website.

Each Applicant must submit one complete copy of the Submittal via email to ra-pwrfaquestions@pa.gov. The subject line of the email must indicate “RFA 13-23 Application”. Applications are due by 10 a.m. on July 31, 2023. Please refer to the eMarketplace listing for any changes regarding the deadline.

Organizations can view the bid online. Awarded contracts are posted to eMarketplace after they become fully executed.

Questions?

If you have a question, send an email to Robin Lease at RAPWRFAQUESTIONS@PA.GOV. All emails should include the subject line “RFA #13-23 Question” and must be submitted by July 14, 2023 at 10 a.m. Written answers will be posted on the eMarketPlace website on July 21, 2023.

News

January 28, 2022

Child Maltreatment Policy Required in Child Care Programs

The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has announced a new certification requirement for child care providers to develop a policy and procedure to identify the prevention of shaken baby syndrome, abusive head trauma, and child maltreatment.

About

The Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) requires child abuse reporting and does not address the prevention of the acts defined in the law as child abuse, including shaking a baby, abusive head trauma and child maltreatment. Child abuse includes, but is not limited to intentionally, knowingly or recklessly:

  • Causing bodily injury to a child through any recent act or failure to act

  • Creating a reasonable likelihood of bodily injury to a child through any recent actor failure to act

  • Forcefully shaking a child under one year of age

Required Policy

In addition to trainings required of all staff employed at a child care program, providers must have a policy and procedure to identify the prevention of shaken baby syndrome, abusive head trauma, and child maltreatment. The policy must include, but is not limited to:

  • Recognition of potential signs and symptoms of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma

  • Strategies for coping with a crying, fussing, or distraught child

  • The prevention and identification of child maltreatment

PA Department of Human Services certified child care providers can reference Caring for Our Children Basics (CFOCB): Health and Safety Foundations for Early Care and Education, which represents the minimum health and safety standards experts believe should be in place where children are cared for outside of their homes for policy and procedure development. Policies must be in place by April 29, 2022.

Questions

For more information, read the full announcement from OCDEL. Child care providers can direct comments and questions regarding this announcement to their Regional Office of Child Development and Early Learning. The Western Region office number is 800-222-2149.