Child Abuse & Neglect Technical Assistance & Strategic Dissemination

IMPAQ manages the National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center (CANTASD) for the Administration for Children and Families’ Children’s Bureau (CB). Developed to support agency priorities around child maltreatment issues, IMPAQ works with the CB Office on Child Abuse and Neglect to support the front end of the child welfare system (i.e., primary and secondary prevention, child protective services and investigation, and multidisciplinary and interagency collaborations to address and respond to child abuse and neglect). The goal is to promote the safety and well-being of children, youth, and families, and increase the capacity of the CB to respond to the needs of its key grantees and the field of child maltreatment.

IMPAQ’s staff support a range of activities and accomplish a variety of tasks for the project. These include the development and implementation of annual outreach and social media campaigns, materials development and peer learning activities, stakeholder and partner engagement, and technical assistance and support for CB grantees. Our ongoing impact analysis, which is based primarily on audience engagement, demonstrates a substantial year-over-year increase in website visits, downloads, attendance at peer learning events, and activities such as shares and retweets.

Activities

Activities to date include the dissemination of information and resources through a website, listserv, and various social media channels; the development of strategies and campaigns to promote and encourage engagement around child maltreatment prevention resources, tools, and peer learning activities; the creation of videos, discussion guides, and other resources; and the planning and facilitation of between one and two interactive webinars featuring child welfare experts and professionals each month. CANTASD staff also provide agenda and content planning support for the biennial National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect.

Experience & Expertise

IMPAQ’s consistent presence in the child welfare field for nearly 30 years has allowed us to cultivate relationships with a multitude of federal officials and subject matter experts. IMPAQ has successfully executed many projects for various federal agencies involved in child welfare, including the Office of Head Start and the ACF Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE).

The core IMPAQ team includes a project director, communications specialist, digital media producer, subject matter expert, meetings manager, and graphic designer/web specialist. Each is applying decades of experience supporting technical assistance and dissemination activities to the CANTASD project.