3.3 POLICY
Identifying and implementing policies that promote safe, stable and nurturing environments and relationships for children is a way to improve outcomes for children.
Policy
Policy may be legislative such as laws, statutes, or local ordinances. It may also be programmatic such as regulations, standards, professional statements, or organizational guidelines. Your health department can contribute to policy development by defining issues: providing data on efficacious policies to partners and decision-makers at the state and community level: and ensuring new policies are evaluated.
Examples of promising practices include:
- Hospital regulations requiring educating new parents on abusive head trauma (shaken baby syndrome)
- Training requirements for child care center staff
- Eligibility requirements for child care subsidies so more parents can access high quality child care
- Business policies that support flexible work schedules and family leave
Consider
- What legislative policies exist to support primary prevention of child maltreatment in your state?
- How does the health department help to inform child maltreatment prevention policy and regulations (e.g., data provision and/or analysis, establishing regulatory guidance)?
- Do policymakers acknowledge the health department as a credible resource in child maltreatment prevention? Why/why not?
3.4 Cross-sector Collaboration