National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect Marks First Anniversary Receiving National Recognition

Denver (Tuesday, June 18, 2019) — The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect (EndCAN) marks its first anniversary getting ready to receive top honors from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). EndCAN will receive the society’s 2019 Prevention Award which recognizes a practitioner or researcher, an agency, or an institution that has made outstanding contributions to the field of prevention of child maltreatment and to the advancement of APSAC’s goals.  APSAC holds its annual conference starting tomorrow in Salt Lake City, Utah when it will present EndCAN with the award.

EndCAN was founded with the guiding principle of bringing a new approach to addressing the rising rates of child abuse and neglect in our country. The nonprofit organization, with headquarters in Denver, aims to disrupt the field by focusing on the public health, mental health and health impacts of such trauma.

EndCAN’s first year was filled with significant milestones including:

• Recognizing researchers for outstanding disruption papers focused on treatment, prevention and research of child abuse and neglect.

• Hosting a national conference that brought the country’s leading child welfare organizations together.

• Participating in some of the country’s most well-respected conferences on child abuse and neglect.

EndCAN’s launch and successful first 12 months could not have been possible without the support from individuals and many organizations including: the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Haruv USA, Casey Family Programs, Ogilvy, Fortnight Collective, the Kempe Foundation, and former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper’s Office.

“EndCAN joined an impressive network of organizations answering the call to do more for children in our country and around the world,” said Lori Poland, executive director of The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect. “We know child abuse is a social, legal and health issue we can change just by talking about it.”

Co-founder and Board President Richard Krugman, MD, is one of the country’s leading child abuse experts. The pediatrician has watched other pediatric health issues nearly disappear when research funding supports treatment, prevention and training.

“Child abuse and neglect is the one field overlooked, which means children continue to die at the same rates as 50 years ago.  Five a day,” said Krugman.  “We can do better. Recognition such as the Prevention Award from the APSAC and support from other organizations committed to this work certainly indicates to us that we are on the right track. We couldn’t be more grateful.”

The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect (EndCAN) is working to end child abuse and neglect in our lifetime by changing the perception of child abuse and neglect in our country as social and legal problems, to also being health, mental health and public health problems that can be treated. EndCAN helps survivors, thrivers and transcenders of abuse by uniting voices. The Foundation works with others to dramatically expand funding for research, training and prevention.