Essentials for Childhood Framework: Steps to Create Safe, Stable, and Nurturing Relationships and Environments for all Children

Safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments are essential to prevent child maltreatment and to assure children reach their full potential. The Essentials for Childhood Framework

[PDF 5.5MB] proposes evidence-based strategies communities can consider to promote relationships and environments that help children grow up to be healthy and productive citizens so that they, in turn, can build stronger and safer families and communities for their children.

The Essentials for Childhood Framework is intended for communities committed to the positive development of children and families, and specifically to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. While child maltreatment is a significant public health problem, it is also a preventable one. The steps suggested in the Essentials for Childhood Framework — along with your commitment to preventing child maltreatment—can help create neighborhoods, communities, and a world in which every child can thrive.

State Level Implementation of the Framework

CDC's Division of Violence Prevention is funding five state health departments in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Washington to implement the five strategies in Essentials for Childhood Framework. Specifically, state health departments will

coordinate and manage existing and new partnerships with other child maltreatment prevention organizations and non-traditional partners;
work with partners to identify strategies across sectors;
identify, coordinate, monitor and report on the strategies implemented by multi-sector partners;
coordinate improvement processes (e.g., continuous quality improvement) for multi-sector partners to refine strategies; and
document state-level impact of these efforts.

Framework Resources

Fact Sheet Summarizing the Essentials for Childhood Framework [PDF 95KB]
Essentials for Childhood: Steps to create safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children [PDF 5.5MB] is CDC’s framework that lays out the steps to reach four key goals.
How to guides that provide implementation methods for one of the framework’s four goals.
- Building Community Commitment for Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments [PDF 345KB], introduces how to raise awareness and build commitment for safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments.
- Promoting Positive Community Norms [PDF 425KB], provides a guide to creating community norms that increase understanding and promotion of safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children and families.
PowerPoint Slides from a May 22, 2013 Webinar Presentation [PDF 555KB] about theEssentials for Childhood Framework.

Additional Resource for State Health Departments

The Public Health Leadership (PHL) Initiative toolkit for child maltreatment prevention was developed to help state health departments promote and enhance child maltreatment prevention efforts. The toolkit and related resources, videos, and expert commentaries are available on VetoViolence.