The Parent Child Center of Tulsa, Inc.

PROJECT PURPOSE

The Parent Child Center of Tulsa (PCCT) prevents child abuse and neglect through three levels of programming: Community Outreach: Education is provided to adults and children regarding infant/child safety and how to identify and report abuse/neglect. Outreach takes place in schools, hospitals, and in public or digital presentations. Family Support: Education and intervention for families in their homes to prevent child abuse/neglect, provided by registered nurses or parent educators. Families are given instruction on how to prevent injury, how to have better relationships with their children, and how to ensure their children?s basic needs are met. There is a strong emphasis on referral so families receive needed support. Therapy: Treatment is provided for infants, children, and adults who?ve been abused or neglected, who?ve witnessed violence in their homes, or who?ve been exposed to other trauma. Therapy models incorporate a family approach and teach skills specifically to prevent future maltreatment. If approved, ARPA would provide sustainability funds for our programming during a time when fundraising is down due to the pandemic.

EVIDENCE

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published five strategies to prevent child abuse and neglect: ? Change social norms to support parents/positive parenting ? Enhance parenting skills to promote healthy child development ? Strengthen economic supports for families ? Provide quality care/education early in life ? Intervene to lessen harms/prevent future risks PCCT programs work toward objectives listed above through advocacy, parenting curricula, partnerships with donors for basic needs support, and therapy for families. The CDC also notes that prevention efforts should involve working across sectors including education, government, health care, and justice. We participate in a number of cross-agency partnerships to provide services.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Eighty-three percent of those we serve through home visitation and therapy live at/below the federal poverty line. One hundred percent of those we serve at the Tulsa County Emergency Shelter live at/below the poverty line. We?ve been conducting a survey to determine how clients are impacted by COVID-19. Following are results: When asked if the pandemic has affected their lives, ? 31.6 say it has impacted their lives a lot; ? 43.9% say it has impacted their lives a little; ? 24.6% say it has not impacted their lives. When asked how the pandemic has affected their lives, ? 48.8% say it has increased stress; ? 41.9% say it has caused loss of income/work hours; ? 30.2% say it has caused job loss. According to an article in Child Abuse and Neglect called Child Maltreatment during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Consequences of Parental Job Loss on Psychological and Physical Abuse Towards Children (September 2020), "the current investigation identified parental job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic as a robust predictor of psychological maltreatment and physical abuse towards children during the pandemic.? Our clients were already at higher risk for abuse/neglect. With the added stressors, risk levels are increased. It?s imperative we?re able to continue our prevention efforts.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Success in any of our programs is achieved when child abuse or neglect is prevented from occurring. Although we?re not able to measure instances of future maltreatment, we can measure specific short-term goals while clients are in our care that indicate a decreased risk for the occurrence of abuse or neglect. Across all programs we utilize an objective resource, the Center of Applied Research for Nonprofit Organizations at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, for reporting outcomes related to hope, symptom improvement, positive action, knowledge retention, and use of resources, skills, and practices in the home. This report is released annually.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma