Colorado Community Response (CCR) is a voluntary child maltreatment prevention pilot program implemented over the past three years as part of the Governor’s Keeping Children Safe and Families Healthy 2.0 Plan. Goals are to increase economic security and build protective factors to prevent child neglect and abuse in low-income families. This evaluation was conducted from November 2014 to March 2017, in 21 sites encompassing 28 counties in rural and suburban areas across Colorado. The Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Early Childhood selected and supervised the CCR evaluation team composed of the Social Work Research Center in the School of Social Work at Colorado State University and the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. This evaluation finds that families who complete CCR are enhancing protective factors, building social capital, increasing stability, improving family functioning and self-reliance, and receiving concrete supports. Child welfare re-involvement, as measured by subsequent founded assessments and out-of-home placements, was also lower for CCR completers than families with similar demographics and case characteristics who did not complete CCR. In summary, CCR is an effective program for strengthening families and preventing child welfare re-involvement.
Published by: Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Early Childhood
Published date: 2018