Projects

Durham Family Initiative

This initiative is a community-based effort to help families at risk of child abuse become self-sufficient and supportive of their children's health, growth and development; to help stressed neighborhoods become supportive environments for children and families; to help the Durham community support families and neighborhoods; and to help public and private service organizations integrate their services so they can most effectively promote child well-being and prevent child abuse among Durham's children and families. Families are screened for risk factors and then individually matched to community resources to support parenting. Since its inception in 2002, the official community-wide rate of child maltreatment has decreased by 50 percent, with much lower rates of declines in five matched comparison counties. Over the next few years, the program will be tested through a place-based randomized experiment.