Prevention Is a Daily Practice: Honoring Child Abuse Prevention Month

Each April, National Child Abuse Prevention Month invites us to reflect on how systems respond to harm and work to maintain the safety and well-being of children and families. It’s also a reminder that prevention—whether primary, secondary, or tertiary—isn’t meant to be a reactive, one-time intervention driven by a crisis. It’s a daily practice built on partnerships, shaped by data, and bolstered by the voices of people with lived expertise.

At JBS International, we believe prevention works best when it’s proactive, practical, and grounded in both evidence and real-life experience. Effective prevention starts in communities and is supported by systems that can recognize needs early, strengthen protective factors, and offer meaningful support to mitigate risk factors long before a crisis takes shape.

Partnership: The Heart of Prevention

The responsibility for prevention doesn’t rest solely with child welfare agencies. Families, community organizations, service providers, and public systems all contribute to building safe, supportive environments where children can thrive.

At JBS, we work with jurisdictions in rural and urban communities—connecting partners across health and child welfare systems—to align priorities and fortify prevention pathways. Partnership isn’t just about collaboration on paper. It’s about ensuring communities, including historically under-resourced areas, help design and guide solutions. When those closest to the work lead the way, prevention efforts become more responsive, more sustainable, and more rooted in local reality.

Humanizing Data With Lived Expertise

Data is essential for improving outcomes—but numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. Traditionally, child welfare data has focused heavily on risk factors like poverty, substance use, recurrence of maltreatment, and child welfare system involvement. This paints an incomplete picture. JBS works with jurisdictions to reframe data with a human-centered perspective that also recognizes resilience, protective factors, and community context.

This approach involves engaging individuals with lived experience to help explain why challenges occur, which supports families actually use, and where gaps remain. These insights allow us to separate symptoms from root causes and design prevention strategies that reflect families’ strengths—not just their challenges.

“Behind every data point is a child, a caregiver, a community doing its best. When we bring lived expertise into the conversation, we move beyond identifying problems and start understanding the conditions families are navigating,” said Eshawn Peterson, who leads a lived expert and community insights team at JBS. “That’s where prevention work truly becomes meaningful.”

A Data-Informed, Community-Centered Approach

Our technical assistance model treats data as a conversation starter and a shared tool—not a siloed resource. We begin by asking questions and listening for the answers. Then we use data, trends, and lived expertise to deepen our understanding through resource mapping, identifying where families naturally seek support, or spotting underutilized services. 

When data is contextualized and shared openly, systems can spot early stressors and resource gaps before they escalate. Strong, timely supports can reduce removals, improve permanency stability, and lessen reentry into care. Clear data practices also help the workforce—clarifying priorities, cutting down on tasks that don’t add value, and allowing staff to focus on strategies that truly support families. By moving away from a deficit-based lens and toward one that elevates protective factors and context, prevention moves from risk labeling to proactive family support.

Our Commitment—This Month and Always

During National Child Abuse Prevention Month and in our daily work, JBS is committed to advancing prevention efforts that are community-centered, data-informed, and driven by lived expertise. We recognize that data is essential but does not tell the entire story, that risk alone does not define families, and that community voice and choice are essential to improving outcomes.

With the right partnerships, thoughtful use of data, and leadership from people with lived expertise, prevention becomes more than a goal—it becomes a daily practice that keeps families strong and children safe.

Learn more about what we do at JBS and discover how you can partner with us to improve the lives of real people, every day.