Dakota County, Minnesota Public Health Department Violence Prevention Programs Jane Palumbo, Community Health Specialist ph: Goals: 1)Primary Prevention: before a problem exists 2)Best Practices 3)Coordinated Efforts 4)Build Citizen Capacity

Background: Citizen Advisory Group Recommendation Child Abuse Prevention Councils established Minnesota Student Survey Dakota Healthy Families As a Result, these groups were formed: 1)Violence Prevention Initiative 2)Child Abuse Prevention Council 3)Dakota Healthy Families Steering Team

Violence Prevention Initiative Focus: Bullying Prevention  Distributed “respect” posters to all elementary schools  Conflict Resolution posters to police liaison officers  Research and shared best practice information  Collaborated with County Attorney who gave 27 talks on bullying prevention in the past year  Created web site  Created and distributed bullying puppet show script  Purchased or created and distributed bullying handouts for schools  Provided materials for SSP Restorative Justice support group  Wrote bullying articles for k-12 newsletters  Distributed anti-bullying materials at county fair  Organized bullying materials and speakers for coalition community event  Promoted use of Reaching Out Theater’s anti-bullying program  Materials distributed to community service officers  Monitored seed money projects related to violence  Offered 4 workshops on bullying for youth workers, schools and parents

Outcomes Outcomes of four workshops for youth workers, schools and parents:  98% of parents reported increase in knowledge of how to deal effectively with oppositional and bullying behavior  90% reported increase in skills to effectively deal with bullying and oppositional behaviors  100% reported they plan to use methods learned at the presentation  94% of school and youth workers reported that they can use the information presented in their work setting

Child Abuse Prevention Council  Collaboration with WIC –Materials available at WIC clinics and appointments –Magnets –Brochures on domestic violence –Are You Someone Who Cares booklets & resource cards –Video on parenting tips for the WIC waiting rooms/lobbies –Materials in all new client packets: Positive parenting bookmarks and ABC’s of Having Fun While Eating Out With Your Kids –WIC staff: Gave 15 staff “Kid Pins” and articles on how to talk to someone about child abuse Other: -Provided parenting bookmarks to all the libraries during April –Staffed an information booth at the annual Crisis Nursery Fun Run/Walk –Co-presented a workshop at the statewide Child Abuse Prevention Conference –Child abuse prevention “clothesline” display (with resource materials) at 21 locations including libraries, county government centers, shopping malls, resource fairs, community events, faith communities, extension service lobby, etc –Materials to Free Family Law Clinic, Chicano/Latino Resource Fair, hospitals, jail lobbies, city halls, police departments, local agencies

Dakota Healthy Families  Studies suggest that up to 40% of child maltreatment might be prevented through home visiting programs by nurses*  DHF is a voluntary long-term home visiting program offering support to new parents facing significant challenges in their parental roles. This support… –Is intensively and consistently offered prenatally through pre-school years –Promotes healthy parent-infant attachment –Builds on family capacities and strengths –Focus on education and participative problem-solving –Links parents to community resources * First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Early Childhood Home Visitation by the nonfederal Task Force on Visitation Programs

Outcomes  81% of smokers in the program stopped smoking  86% of DHF families had “no fails” in any of the 5 developmental areas of communication, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, problem-solving and personal-social.  90% of the families achieved an acceptable home hazard safety score.  Five of the six indicators of parent-child interaction showed improvement.  The majority of parents improved on stress and isolation measures.

Resources Go to: Click on:Site Index Type in the Search Box: Bullying (then hit “Enter” or click “Go” button) Click on:Public Health-Health Promotion Areas of Focus Home Visiting Effectiveness: