Maine Children's Trust has supported the prevention efforts of the Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) Prevention Councils since the 1990's with grant funding, public awareness and technical assistance. Since 2015, the Maine Department of Human Services has executed agreements with the Trust to lead and coordinate a statewide project to prevent child abuse and neglect. Through this effort, the Trust supports the Prevention Councils in their statutory role as the county-level coordinating entity to lead and deliver child abuse prevention efforts.

The Prevention Council statute guides the Trust in providing central statewide leadership, strengthen the network and ensure ongoing delivery of free evidence-based and evidence-informed child abuse programming in every county in Maine.

A toolkit has been developed to guide data evaluation, integrate data with community feedback and develop prevention plans and priorities. The Trust provides a centralized data system, core programming training and technical assistance to ensure consistency in service delivery, as well as model fidelity.

To connect with your local Prevention Council please visit our local resources map here.

Funding for the Prevention Councils is provided by the Department of Health and Human Services: Office of Child and Family Services.