Translational Approaches to Child Neglect Research

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Item 6. Project Summary/Abstract Child neglect is a serious problem in the United States. Of the estimated 872,000 children found to be victims of abuse and neglect in 2004, the largest group (62%) experienced neglect. Children who are neglected represent an important and large population at risk, since neglect not only compromises the immediate health of children, but also has the potential to negatively influence long-term child outcomes, such as mental and physical health, growth, intellectual development, behavioral functioning, economic productivity as eventual wage earners, and future parenting practices. Neglect is a multi-faceted problem that requires a multidisciplinary approach involving many agencies in terms of prevention, control and consequences. The proposed conference grant reflects multi-disciplinary and translational approaches to child neglect, extending beyond what any single discipline or organization would accomplish individually, cross-cutting the missions of NIH and partner agencies, and continuing a forum begun in 2000 as part of the Federal Child Neglect Research Consortium. In 2005, the Surgeon General called for child maltreatment to become a national priority in the ¿Surgeon General's Workshop Making Prevention of Child Maltreatment a National Priority: Implementing Innovations of a Public Health Approach¿. This application seeks five (5) years of funding for annual meetings for Translational Research on Child Neglect. These meetings benefit from the preliminary effort by federal program staff to bring disparate fields together to tackle this public health issue through the Federal Child Neglect Research Consortium. The proposed grant includes members of the original Federal Child Neglect Research Consortium, invited guest speakers, federal partners, postdoctoral and minority fellows, and interested community partners, with the goal of advancing translational science on this important public health issue. We have outlined a conference schedule for five (5) years, beginning in January 2007 and continuing through January 2011. These annual 1 ¿ day scientific meetings will: (1) serve as a catalyst for continued innovation in research on child neglect; (2) include special mentoring opportunities for postdoctoral and minority fellows as well as new investigators; (3) stimulate the exchange of ideas and research findings, permitting cross-fertilization among researchers from different disciplines working to decrease the well documented risk for mental and physical health outcomes and impairment affecting this large number of neglected children; (4) facilitate the development and maintenance of a website and listserv for communicating and disseminating research findings and resource material on child neglect; and (5) assist community outreach through webcasts of invited speaker presentations and community collaborations at local, state, and federal levels (where possible) to foster dissemination of research findings and translate science to ¿real world¿ settings.