The Child Abuse Prevention Program of The New York Foundling (CAPP), with the support of the John A. Reisenbach Foundation, is breaking the cycle of child abuse by advancing awareness of its consequences and strategies for prevention. Since its founding in 1986, CAPP’s award-winning Child Safety Workshop has reached over 450,000 public school children throughout New York City. The workshop uses life-sized puppets in skits to teach children how to recognize, resist, and report physical and sexual abuse educating them about their right to a safe childhood. Its impact has been documented in an independent evaluation by Dr. William Zangwill, a clinical psychologist who found that children who participate in the CAPP Workshop have a greater level of retention, as they learn on both a cognitive and an emotional level. The workshop is also unique in that it not only gives children prevention education, but also offers them the opportunity to speak privately with a specially-trained prevention specialist or guidance counselor directly following the program. By creating a safe space for children to share their experiences, the program gives children who have already experienced abuse the chance to ask for help and begin the process of intervention immediately.
In August of 2014, CAPP became a fully-integrated program of The New York Foundling, one of the City’s oldest and largest social service organizations and a leader in the field of evidence-based approaches to child welfare. The Foundling’s programs respond to a wide variety of needs and support children and families who struggle with or are at risk of abuse, neglect, disability, and other obstacles to a healthy, successful future. There is great synchronicity between CAPP’s abuse prevention work and The Foundling’s 145-year history of support and treatment for at-risk children and families. Together, we will serve approximately 27,000 children and families over the course of this year.
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