Illuminate’s Policy Work
For Colorado to remain one of the healthiest economies in the country, we need to work together to build brighter childhoods.
Our future workforce, innovators, leaders, and community members can only reach their full potential through thoughtful development and investment in services and policies that strengthen families and protect children.
It’s essential for elected officials and policy makers to understand how to prevent child maltreatment and listen to parents in every community.
Illuminating Policy Prevents Child Maltreatment
Illuminate Colorado strengthens families, organizations, and communities to prevent child maltreatment. Protective factors are conditions or attributes in individuals, families, communities or the larger society that help people deal more effectively with stressful events and mitigate or eliminate risk in families and communities.
Parental Resilience
Social Connections
Knowledge of Parenting & Child Development
Social & Emotional Competence of Children
Concrete Support
Colorado Legislative Progress Toward Prevention
Every legislative session, Illuminate crafts a policy agenda highlighting policy priorities that build one or more protective factors known to prevent child maltreatment to ensure Colorado’s policies build brighter childhoods.
Primary Prevention
These strategies build protective factors in all families to prevent child maltreatment before it occurs by implementing universal interventions that benefit the entire community and strengthen all families.
Secondary Prevention
These strategies build protective factors in families in high-stress situations to prevent child maltreatment before it occurs by providing early intervention and tailored support to families who may be at a higher risk of experiencing child maltreatment.
Tertiary Prevention
These strategies build protective factors in families to prevent recurrence of child maltreatment by offering specialized interventions to families who have already experienced abuse or neglect.
Illuminate Colorado’s Policy Framework
Primary Prevention Policies
Prioritize primary prevention in federal and state budgets by investing in proven services and professional education that support families and keep kids safe
- Promote availability of high-quality preschool
- Promote availability of nurturing and safe child care
- Promote availability of evidence-based home visiting programs
- Promote availability of family resource centers
- Promote availability of safe, engaging after school programs and activities
- Promote availability of medical care and behavioral health service, including family planning
- Promote availability of evidence-based programs to prevent child sexual abuse
Strengthen economic supports to families
- Expand availability of quality, affordable, and stable housing
- Expand availability of quality, affordable and convenient food (including through WIC, SNAP, and federal child nutrition programs)
- Expand availability of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Expand availability of the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)
- Expand availability of tax credits
Implement family-friendly work policies
- Expand paid family and medical leave policies
- Increase the minimum wage
Secondary Prevention Policies
Ensure and expand tailored support for families where needed
- Expand support for families impacted by behavioral health, including both parental and pediatric
- Expand support for families impacted by intellectual and developmental disabilities, including fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
- Expand support for families impacted by intimate partner violence
Tertiary Prevention Policies
Ensure communities identify and support children and families when abuse and neglect has occurred
- Ensure availability of services to support healing and recovery
Wondering how a policy prevents child maltreatment?
Contact us to learn more about each policy priority and how we can help you strengthen families in your community.
Questions?
Contact Lex Loutzenhiser, Policy Manager
