Project SafeCare was a 4-year, in-home, research and intervention program that provided parent training to families of children at-risk for maltreatment, and families of children who were victims of maltreatment. Parents were trained in treating children's illnesses and maximizing their own health-care skills (Health), positive and effective parent–child interaction skills (Parenting), and maintaining low hazard homes (Safety). The effectiveness of these training components was evaluated as the change in the parents' scores on roleplay situations for child health problems, hazards present in the home, and the frequency and quality of parent–child interactions during activities of daily living. Statistically significant improvements were seen in child health care, home safety, and parent–child interactions.

Project SafeCare was an in-home research and intervention, grant-funded program designed to teach parents who were reported for child abuse and neglect. Parents who participated in Project SafeCare received training in three aspects of child care: treating illnesses and maximizing their health-care skills (health), positive and effective parent-child interaction skills (bonding), and maintaining hazard-free homes (safety) for their children. Postcontact (after initial intake was made and the program began) incidents of child abuse and neglect for maltreating parents who participated in and completed Project SafeCare were compared to a comparison group of maltreating families from the point of initial intake through a 24-month follow-up period. The comparison group (referred to as the Family Preservation group) received intervention from Family Preservation programs. Families who participated in Project SafeCare had significantly lower reports of child abuse and neglect than families in the comparison group.

Evaluations of services designed to ameliorate the problems associated with child abuse and/or neglect (CAN) are relatively rare. The present investigation examines the impact of ecobehavioral services provided to families with extensive histories of CAN and examines the demographics of two groups of families. Project 12-Ways provides in-home ecobehavioral treatment to families referred by the state protective service agency. Impact data were collected and compared from families served by Project 12-Ways and families served by the stale protective service agency and other community programs. These data focused on the rates of CAN, placement of children outside of the parental home, and permanent termination of parental rights. Comparisons were made on pretreatment, treatment, and post-treatment rates. It was determined that both samples experienced significant decrements in CAN. While the two samples were equivalent in rates of CAN, data were presented showing differences in severity and priority of CAN which suggest that ecobehavioral services can be successful in reducing CAN. Thus, a heuristic model is available for evaluating CAN, including the manner in which the data were collected, the range of independent variables included, and the considerable span of the families' lives covered in the evaluation. These results suggest some modification of the way in which follow-up data are collected and used to change policy and practice.

This paper addresses an evaluation of an administrative decision to change the manner in which services were paid for at a Student Health Center (SHC). The impact of the change in payment was observed through monitoring the number of scheduled appointments at the SHC which the patient failed to attend, reschedule, or cancel. The impact was assessed through a comparison of the weekly no-show rates from the year prior to the change in payment practices through the year following the change. A time-series statistical package was used to analyze the no-show data. Collateral measures on the number of students attending the university, staff opinions, and usage of the SHC by different student groups were collected. Evaluations of the impact of administrative decisions on health-related behavior were discussed, in addition to a discussion of the usefulness of time-series models for this type of evaluation.

Child physical abuse (CPA) is a pervasive societal problem with serious outcomes. Understanding CPA risk factors is necessary to identify those at risk for CPA perpetration and to inform efforts to prevent the occurrence of CPA. The present study provides an updated review of conceptual models of CPA, a review of model-related CPA risk factors, and a meta-analytic review of CPA risk factors found in cross-sectional, case-controlled studies. The review of conceptual models yielded >70 explanatory models of CPA from which >140 putative CPA risk factors were extracted. A three-level random-effects meta-analysis of CPA risk factors was conducted. Database and literature searches yielded 58 studies that met the inclusion criteria from which 300 effect size (ES) estimates were identified. In the meta-analysis, 292 ESs were placed into 38 CPA risk factor domains. Twenty significant individual CPA risk factor domain ES estimates and five significant relationship CPA risk factor domain ESs were found. Future studies that simultaneously consider CPA risk and protective factors from within and between ecological levels and that establish causal CPA factors are needed to better inform CPA prevention and treatment efforts.

Facial screening was first described by Lutzker and Spencer in 1974 as a new technique for suppressing or eliminating self-injurious behaviour (SIB). This review examines the use of facial screening to treat SIB and other problem behaviours. A historical chronology of facial screening is presented, along with a review of the published articles on facial screening and other visual occlusion techniques. A critical review is offered with suggestions for considerable future research with facial screening.