Preventing Child Abuse
We can stop convicted abusers from harming kids.
Nearly 700,000 children are abused in the U.S annually.
Nearly 5 children die every day in the U.S.
%
of children who die from child abuse are under Age one.
How does child abuse affect kids?
Legal efforts
Why wait until children are harmed before we act?
Don’t we have a duty to ensure that children are not subjected to abuse by known offenders? Learn the details in one of our recently published papers.
Having Kids advocates for Fair Start judicial orders in cases of criminal abuse and neglect.
Read about them in detail here.
Fair Start orders prevent abusers from having, and thereby harming, additional children as a condition of probation. These child-centered judicial orders are noncoercive, progressive, constitutional and reflect all five aspects of the Fair Start model. Child abuse presents an ideal context in which to begin the remodeling of our family planning systems.
Fair Start orders do more than prevent child abuse. They allow parents to focus on rehabilitation so that they can be ready and capable of providing kids with a safe and supportive environment.

A Fair Start To Prevent Abuse
Nearly 30% of abused and neglected children will go on to commit abuse themselves. By helping parents wait until they are ready to have kids, the likelihood of conflict and stress that lead to abuse and neglect decreases. We can prevent kids from being subjected to abuse when communities support better family planning.Legislative Efforts
Having Kids is also working with legislators and child welfare agencies to incorporate Fair Start family planning into community-level, state, and federal programs.
We recently sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions asking them to amend the Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act (“CAPTA”) by requiring states to enact Fair Start legislation. The legislation would enable judges to issue Fair Start Orders in criminal abuse cases. Read more.
TAKE ACTION
Ask the Senate committee members to add a Fair Start amendment to the Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act.