The Section on Child Maltreatment was established in 1994 to support and promote scientific inquiry, training, professional practice, and advocacy in the area of child maltreatment. The Section on Child Maltreatment is the only permanent organization within the APA specifically developed to address issues related to child abuse and neglect. For more information about the Section, click here to visit the Section I website or contact President Jennifer Kaminski at anu1@cdc.gov.

We are pleased to announce a new member benefit!

Advances in Child and Family Policy and Practice

The Society has signed a contract for a Division-sponsored publication with Springer Publications entitled: Advances in Child and Family Policy and Practice. The publication will consist of a single monograph or a cohesive collection of papers that the publisher will include in its SpringerBriefs series. See below for a description of the topical coverage for this new publication.

The benefit to the Society members comes from the free electronic access to the publication online and to a reduced purchase price if a hard copy is requested for a particular issue. The Advances in Child and Family Policy and Practice issues will be advertised widely and will be available for purchase by other professionals.

Advances in Child and Family Policy and Practice will serve as a forum for discussion of issues related to social policy and services for children, adolescents, and their families with a particular emphasis on a psychosocial perspective. All briefs will deal with policy analysis and implications, at various levels, including local, state, national, and international. Articles will include: literature and conceptual review papers; analyses of policy trends; evaluations of programs, policies, and systems; case examples of public and private policy issues; and advocacy needs, successes and failures, to demonstrate applications where psychological expertise might be applied. Potential topics of interest will also include organization of service programs, service delivery through different systems, implementation, impact and evaluation. A variety of youth-related service programs and topics can be the focus of a brief, including but not limited to (1) child mental health programs and policy (e.g., systems of care research); (2) mental health screening/service needs in child welfare; (3) child maltreatment; (4) education, early childhood education, evaluation and publicly-funded pre-K; (5) health (e.g., integration of mental health within primary care settings); and (6) juvenile justice. All submissions will be peer reviewed by the Editorial Board for substantive contribution to the psychological and policy literature related to issues of child and family practices. Briefs can consist of one longer manuscript on a topic, or can be an integrated set of briefer papers. Each issue is expected to include literature reviews of the topics, the policy and practice implications of the topic, and a 1-2 page summary to be used for public advocacy.
The Society is responsible for appointing the Editor to solicit for manuscripts and handle submissions. A Call for Editor Nominations and Applications will be issued soon.