July 15, 2024 -- The North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) has begun convening state stakeholders to review progress on recommendations from the 2014 – 2015 Task Force on Essentials for Childhood, which issued policy recommendations with the goal of ensuring safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments to strengthen families and prevent child maltreatment.
As part of ongoing work with the North Carolina Division of Public Health (NCDPH) to develop and implement a public health framework for child maltreatment prevention, the NCIOM will facilitate a review of recommendations and discussion about current context, activities, and policy opportunities. The results may inform additional recommendations and will contribute to an updated State Action Plan for NCDPH, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch.
Sharon Hirsch, President and CEO of Positive Childhood Alliance North Carolina, and Meredith Archie, President of the NC Chamber Foundation, serve as co-chairs of this update committee. The committee includes individuals representing school-based initiatives, research, practitioners and social workers, early childhood services, child care, mental and behavioral health, state agencies, members of the North Carolina General Assembly, philanthropy, advocacy, and faith-based organizations.
The first update committee meeting will take place on July 30, 2024, with additional meetings in August, September, and October. A final report will be published in February 2025.
Since 2013, DPH has been funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and implement a public health framework for child maltreatment prevention. As a partner in this initiative, the NCIOM convened the Task Force on Essentials for Childhood in 2014 – 2015, which published recommendations for ensuring safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments for families. Since 2016, the NCIOM has served as a backbone organization for this work by coordinating aligned work across four nonprofit partners focusing on the importance of supporting children and their families.
For more information about the Essentials for Childhood initiative, visit https://nciom.org/essentials-for-childhood-backbone-organization-2/
About the North Carolina Institute of Medicine
The North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) is forward-looking and focused on solutions. The organization was founded in 1983 by the North Carolina General Assembly to serve as a source of non-partisan information and analysis to promote effective health policies focused on improving the health and well-being of North Carolinians. Learn more at nciom.org.
