This issue of the Council Courier contains information chosen just for you. As a member of a Chartered Prevention Council, you deserve to receive all of the necessary information to make your job easier. Please take the time to review the articles/resources and let us know if you have any questions or comments.

Prevent Child Abuse Indiana (PCAIN) has been the chartered Indiana state chapter for Prevent Child Abuse America since 1977. While previously an independent entity, PCAIN became a division of The Villages of Indiana in 2007, to help provide programmatic and financial stability, while continuing to champion the voice of primary child abuse prevention across Indiana. Prevent Child Abuse Indiana values the unique local perspective and voice of child abuse prevention as essential, understanding child abuse may look different across the state. Therefore, local child abuse prevention councils have been established and are currently chartered through PCAIN in 57 locations, representing a total of 63 Indiana counties.

The current annual chartering fee of $150.00 for local councils has been in place and unchanged since before 2007. The increase in costs of physical materials (i.e., pinwheels, brochures) over time, along with the development of additional topics for printed educational materials, as well as supports provided to/for local councils has contributed to the current chartering practices to becoming unsustainable.

A volunteer group of local child abuse prevention council leaders (PCAIN Council Leader Cadre’) from across Indiana was convened in February 2024 to evaluate the current chartering process and discuss ideas for change. This group met four separate times to engage in this discussion, as well as recommending a survey be developed and distributed to council leaders, to gain further objective insight. That survey was created using questions and ideas discussed by the Leadership Cadre’ and distributed for input by council leaders in late June 2024. The survey collection was closed mid-July and data was compiled and analyzed. The resulting action is viewed as the first phase of changes to the chartering process, which will hopefully lead to a more active and engaged role for PCAIN, supporting local councils in a meaningful, accessible, and sustainable manner.  Enhancing the network and collaboration opportunities with and between councils in coming years is paramount to reducing rates of child maltreatment in Indiana.  

Ideas being considered for additional changes to the PCAIN council chartering process include but are not limited to adding a tiered system for chartering, as well as reconfiguring regions for PCAIN Regional Council events to encourage more active participation and collaboration within each region. It is anticipated the PCAIN Council Leadership Cadre will continue to meet regularly for ongoing assessment and guidance of the role and support PCAIN provides to and with councils across Indiana.

RECHARTERING CHANGES FOR 2025:

The following changes to the chartering process for local child abuse prevention councils have been adopted by PCAIN and will be instituted during the upcoming chartering period between October – December 2024. It should be noted that the following changes regarding PCAIN no longer distributing or including pinwheels with the chartering process, aligns with communication from Prevent Child Abuse America on the subject:

• 2025 Chartering fee for local councils will be raised to $200.00 annually if chartered between October 1 – December 31, 2024.   Recharters received after January 1, 2025, will be $250 for the year.  In addition, chartered councils may make other arrangements to purchase pinwheels as needed.  PCAIN and PCAA are effectively removing themselves as the "middle-man" in these transactions.

• PCAIN will no longer supply pinwheels to our councils, but we will supply you with a link to order any of your physical pinwheel needs from American Solutions for Business (past supplier for PCA America/PCAIN).  The order link will be supplied to each Council once that has been shared with us from this company.
  • PCAIN will no longer distribute or sell pinwheels after their current limited supply of 18 boxes is sold on a first come first served basis at a cost of $225.00 per box.  If you want any of these boxes, please order now at the PCAIN Shop.  You cannot use your 25% discount on this order.
• Brochures:  We are now implementing a "Quick Card" format on each topic that includes a series of important tips with English on one side and Spanish on the other.  There will also be a QR Code on each "Quick Card" for those that want more information.  This will lead to our website to view/download/print a PDF on each topic either in English or Spanish. 
  • During chartering each Council can receive up to 800 "Quick Cards" of their choosing, in packages of 50 at no extra cost for a total of 16 Packages.
  • Up to 200 additional" Quick Cards" of your choice, in increments of 50, can be requested for April at no charge (4 Packages).
  • Each Council will receive this Order Form after we receive your chartering agreement & payment.
• A 25% discount is available on all merchandise purchased from the PCAIN SHOP, except for what is left of the pinwheels (mentioned above).

Each Council Leader or Main Contact should visit our website, Council Documents Page, to recharter after October 1st.  There will be the 2025 Online Chartering Form (preferred option) and also one you can print, fill out and mail in with your Chartering Fee.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Katherine King, PCAIN Support Specialist.

Prevent Child Abuse Indiana is in concert with Prevent Child Abuse America, using their “Theory of Change” model, to “help our nation build an aligned and comprehensive primary prevention ecosystem to advance the aspirations for all children and families.”  The idea is to shrink or eliminate gaps in our network of child abuse prevention advocates, to make it impossible for families to “slip through the cracks,” regardless of where or how they enter or encounter our network. We desire to make it easy for families to find help and succeed in parenting safe, healthy, nurtured, and well supported children. To learn more about and access the PCAA “Theory of Change” document, find the link here.

The next PCAIN Statewide Council webinar is scheduled for September 25th @ 12pm.  Please let us know if there were anything you would like to make sure we discuss at this meeting so we can include it on Agenda. 

PCAIN Council News

• We need your help in identifying new or diverse groups with whom we may collaborate and build our comprehensive ecosystem. PCAIN has begun a series of recorded webinars to identify groups with whom our councils or PCAIN have found to have exciting potential for engagement and support of the mission of primary child abuse prevention. The first two of those webinars are identified below, with links for accessing those recordings to learn more:

  • June 28^th, 2024 – Building a Comprehensive Ecosystem for Child Abuse Prevention Part 1: Family Resource Centers https://youtu.be/WDq4cVDzza8

  • July 12^th, 2024 – Building a Comprehensive Ecosystem for Child Abuse Prevention Part 2: Local Coordinating Councils https://youtu.be/KcJLEjXgtyE

• Please let us know of groups, whether they are traditional partners in the child abuse prevention space, or non-traditional, with whom your council has enjoyed productive collaboration to further the message of primary child abuse prevention in your county. We would enjoy the opportunity to highlight the success of your council’s partnership and learn together through you facilitating a discussion with your fellow council leaders across the state. Contact Jeff Wittman to share ideas for future webinars on “building a comprehensive child abuse prevention ecosystem.” 

• The months of September and October offer a number of important opportunities to highlight and potentially build/enhance collaboration with new groups around the following topics:
  • September:
    • Hispanic Heritage Month
    • Kinship Appreciation Month
    • Suicide Prevention Month
    • Self-care Awareness Month
  • October:
    • Safe Sleep / Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Awareness Month
      • The national safe sleep site updated their toolkit for this year in case you wanted to check that out: SIDS Awareness Month Toolkit
      • The Indiana State Department of Health is currently working on a safe sleep video, which will be available soon. This will provide another resource to share and reinforce the important message around Safe Sleep principles.

• Sharing of resources from other council leaders:
  • PCAIN seeks to do is embrace the collective knowledge and reach we have as a community of child abuse preventionists. One way to do that is through sharing opportunities and resources that our colleagues across Indiana may find valuable. Below, you will find two such opportunities to engage with and share widely:
    • Ann Carruthers, Council President for Prevent Child Abuse Clark / Floyd Counties, and the Executive Director of Clark / Floyd System of Care shared:
      • A four-question link below to evaluate Resources and Supports for Children’s mental health in Indiana. If you can help me distribute or fill out the survey, that would be great. I was gathering information locally, but quickly realized this is a statewide challenge. This link will take you directly to the survey to complete and submit.  
    • Heather Wildrick-Holman, President STARS for Children Council (Marion County) and Assistant Director for Firefly Children and Family Alliance shared:
      • I wanted to share this resource in case anyone you know would be interested in it. It is a free self-guided and self-paced training opportunity to learn American Sign Language through the Oklahoma School for the Deaf. Use this link for more information on ASL Classes.

Questions, Concerns, Requests - Call us using our Toll-Free Number: 1-800-874-6880 or email Jeff Wittman, PCAIN Director

PCAIN Website Links:

• PCAIN Brochures
• PCAIN Merchandise
• PCAIN Events & Community Trainings
• To Request PCAIN Trainings

Thank you all for working hard to ensure the children of Indiana have great childhoods!  We are fortunate to have a network of professionals and community members who work nonstop to ensure children grow up in households and communities free from abuse and neglect.

Together, prevention is possible.