Client Story

As of 2017, Indiana had the second-highest rate of child maltreatment in the nation. As the state grappled with the alarming rate of child maltreatment, the national child welfare landscape experienced a shift with the introduction and implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act. This legislation emphasized supporting families through additional prevention services and expanding funding opportunities for this prevention work. This shift, coupled with Indiana’s child maltreatment crisis, prompted state leaders to reconsider how the state and local communities could better approach and prioritize the prevention of child abuse and neglect.

In 2018, the Child Abuse Prevention Sub-Committee of the Indiana Commission on Improving the Status of Children researched promising practices and identified a possible solution for Indiana – a statewide child abuse prevention framework. They reviewed several existing resources and statewide plans, including the Child Maltreatment Prevention: A Planning Framework for Action, developed by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, and statewide frameworks created by Colorado and South Carolina. Based on its review, the Sub-Committee made a recommendation to the Commission that a similar framework be developed for Indiana. In May 2019, the Commission voted to approve the recommendation. 

The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) acted on the Commission’s recommendation and funded the development of the statewide framework and an accompanying toolkit. DCS contracted with Transform Consulting Group to provide project management and research support to lead this project. To accomplish the state’s goals, Transform Consulting Group developed strategic partnerships with The Villages of Indiana and the Indiana Minority Health Coalition to ensure broad and representative stakeholder engagement during the planning process, especially with communities of color.

Transform Consulting Group and our partners first worked to form a statewide advisory committee to provide strategic input in the planning and creation of this framework and toolkit. The advisory committee represented multiple state agencies, prevention and advocacy leaders, philanthropic funders, and community partners from supporting sectors. In addition to the guidance provided by this advisory team, Transform Consulting Group solicited input from parents and community organizations in nine pilot counties. The advisory committee considered the following factors when selecting the pilot counties: 

• Geographic distribution
• Rural and urban representation 
• Demographic diversity 
• Child maltreatment rate 
• The existence of related initiatives

Transform Consulting Group collected feedback from nearly 2,000 parents and over 120 community organizations via survey. In addition to the feedback collected, we pulled state and national data on child abuse and neglect. We identified and assessed the prevention programs and models being implemented across the state both with public and private funding. 

We pulled national data and research on promising practices to prevent child abuse and maltreatment, building on the initial research completed by the Child Abuse Prevention Sub-Committee of the Indiana Commission on Improving the Status of Children. We reviewed the Child Maltreatment Prevention: A Planning Framework for Action, developed by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, and statewide frameworks created by Colorado and South Carolina to inform the development of Indiana’s framework and toolkit. 

The resulting framework provides a road map for the state of Indiana and local communities to prevent maltreatment while promoting family and child well-being and resilience. It aims to empower key stakeholders at both the state and local levels to move the needle in preventing abuse and neglect for Indiana children by providing the information and tools needed for implementation. This toolkit is not prescriptive but rather allows communities to identify the strategies that best align and strengthen prevention efforts in their community. It is centered on primary prevention efforts, or services and interventions available to the general population, to prevent child maltreatment before it happens. This framework and toolkit help communities increase the effectiveness, alignment, and coordination of existing child maltreatment prevention efforts and identify new opportunities to support the resilience and well-being of all children and families.

• Facilitated conversations with partners regarding values, outcomes, data sources and indicators, and resources
• Provided backbone support for facilitating the statewide advisory committee
• Developed surveys to gather feedback from parents, caregivers, and community partners 
• Researched other communities and state initiatives to identify promising and best practices to inspire the framework
• Facilitated a planning retreat with state and local partners
• Led the development of the framework and supporting toolkit