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Organization: Exchange Club CASTLE Program Name : Safe Families Funder: Children ' s Services Advisory Committee RFP #6067 Be , PROGRAM NEED STATEMENT (Entire Section B not to exceed one page) 1 . a) What is the unacceptable condition requiring change ? b) Who has the need ? c) Where do they live? d) Provide local, state, or national trend data, with reference source, that corroborates that this is an area of need. What: The unacceptable condition requiring change is child abuse and neglect . Child abuse and neglect has well-documented, long term, harmful effects on children, including permanent physical injuries, chronic low self esteem, developmental delays, difficulty in forming attachments and relationships, mental illness, aggressive behavior, and a cycle wherein an abused child is much more likely to , in turn, abuse his or her own children. ' Who has the need : Parents who pose a risk to their children, because of identifiable risk factors such as poverty, a lack of parenting knowledge and skills , or a parent ' s own history of abuse or addiction. Where : Last year, parents were served in all parts of Indian River County, Provide Data : The overwhelming majority of families that abuse or neglect their children can, with the proper support, learn to parent in a manner that is non abusive (research shows that home based parent education is the most effective way to prevent abuse and neglect") . This allows the family to remain intact and avoid the trauma of an out of home placement for the child. Research indicates that 96 -98 % of families who engage in home-based parent education programs such as Safe Families , do not re-abuse their children . This reduces by almost two- thirds , the number of children who face further abuse at the hands of their caretakers . "' Keeping a family intact eliminates the need for a foster care placement, where a child is three times more likely to be abused in state care as compared to remaining with parents . '" Locally, Indian River County had 1 ,039 abuse reports filed in 2002-2003 . This is a 7 % drop from the previous year, and better than the statewide drop of 3% . The rate of abuse in Indian River County is 17 children per 1 , 000, which is lower than the state rate of abuse (20 children per 1 , 000) but higher than the national average ( 12 children per thousand) . " In conclusion, the data show that 1 ) home based parent education prevents abuse, 2) home based parent education helps children stay out of foster care (where they are more likely to be abused), 3 ) Indian River County is doing better than the state at protecting its children, but worse when compared to national statistics, 4) with more home based parent education, Indian River Sounty can make a significant impact in reducing the number of children abused . 2 . a) Identify similar programs that are currently serving the needs of your targeted population ; b) Explain how these existing programs are under-serving the targeted population of your program. There are no similar programs serving the population targeted for Safe Families . The other child abuse prevention program in the county is Healthy Families, which serves a different population (pregnant moms and newborns) . The target population for Safe Families is underserved . This is evidenced by the fact that the program is receiving twice as many referrals as it can handle . 5