Public Health and Child Maltreatment Prevention: The Role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Child maltreatment is a serious and preventable public health problem. Recent studies indicate a dose-response relationship between exposure to child maltreatment and the presence of adult diseases, clearly positioning child maltreatment as a public health burden. This commentary describes the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) public health approach to prevention, and identifies elements of the CDC role that are complementary to the efforts of criminal justice and child protective services. CDC’s goal for child maltreatment prevention is to assure the widespread adoption of prevention and intervention strategies that are evidence based. Immediate and practical impact can occur by improving collection of child maltreatment data, emphasizing positive parenting skills, and promoting programs representing the best prevention practices in child maltreatment prevention.