Prevention & Safety

Protecting children begins with awareness and action. These articles focus on preventing abuse, recognizing warning signs, promoting safety, and empowering communities to keep children safe.

Understanding Child Abuse and Maltreatment: Causes, Risk Factors, and How We Can Prevent It

Child abuse and maltreatment are not random events — they happen within a web of individual circumstances, family dynamics, and community conditions that researchers have studied for decades. Understanding what drives maltreatment, and what protects against it, is one of the most powerful tools we have to prevent it from occurring in the first place. This article examines the documented causes and contributing factors behind child abuse and neglect, explores the family and community dynamics that elevate or reduce risk, and outlines evidence-based strategies — from home visiting programs to community-level policy — that are proven to make children safer.

Kids, Screens, and Safety: A Practical Guide to Protecting Children Online

Today’s kids spend much of their lives online—doing homework, chatting with friends, gaming, and scrolling. For Maryland families, that can feel overwhelming, especially when headlines highlight cyberbullying, explicit content, and online predators. This guide explains the main online risks for children in clear language and offers simple, practical steps any parent or caregiver can use to help keep kids safer.