Page 29 - Robeson Living Spring 2022

and adopt a county specific action plan. These community pre- enhance child development, and reduce the likelihood of child
vention action plans are available on the Prevent Child Abuse abuse and neglect. The framework is based on engaging fami-
NC webpage at https://bit.ly/CPAP-tri-county. This com- lies, programs, and communities in building the five protective
munity prevention action plan, not only spells out goals and factors of parental resilience, social connections, concrete sup-
strategies for our ROAR group to engage and work towards, port in times of need, knowledge of parenting and child devel-
but serves as an educational tool offering information about opment, and social and emotional competence of children.
the definition and prevalence of ACEs, and the Five Protec-
tive Factors, and key data points and information about our In 2021, Robeson County Partnership for Children, Inc. was
county’s population. officially named as the backbone agency to help steer this im-
portant work in our county and they have several committed
The protective factors are conditions in families and communi- staff members that are helping to convene stakeholders, raise
ties that increase health and well-being of children and fami- community awareness, offer trainings to community members,
lies by serving as buffers, helping parents connect to resources, seek additional certifications, and work with partnering agen-
support, or coping strategies that can lead them to effective cies to develop their county’s community prevention action
parenting even under stress. Research has shown that the prev- plan.
alence of protective factors is linked to a lower incidence of
child abuse and neglect. Members of the ROAR stakeholder Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust has continued to fund the
group considered known resources throughout the county that resiliency efforts for our region by offering additional grant
help support the Five Protective Factors and created a listing funds to extend the work of ROAR in Robeson County. A por-
that can be shared within the community. The resulting envi- tion of the funds is being used to certify members of ROAR
ronmental scan can be found as part of the posted communi- to offer research based educational programs to members of
ty prevention action plan. The Five Protective Factors were our community in an effort to grow a more trauma-informed
named as part of the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s population. While we are still in the training phase for some
Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework; which of these programs, we have professionals available now that
is based in research as an approach to increase family strengths, can come to your business, community group or organization
Robeson Living ~ Spring 2022 Page 29