ATHENS, Ala. – The Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention is joining local and state leaders on Feb. 15, to present a check for $1,574,000 to local organizations in Alabama’s Fourth Congressional District. The event will be held at 11 a.m. in room 200 of the State House (11 South Union Street, Montgomery, AL, 36130).

“The Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention looks forward each year to participating in our annual district check presentations. These events provide opportunities to highlight the outstanding work of our agency’s funded programs in each of the state’s Seven Congressional Districts. These community-based entities implement evidence-based programs to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect in Alabama.” said Sallye Longshore, director of the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention.

The Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, also known as the Children’s Trust Fund, provides annual funding to community-based programs across the state that are dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. This year, the agency awarded a total of 202 grants statewide to a range of prevention efforts, including parent education, home visiting, fatherhood, mentoring, respite care and community awareness programs.

This check presentation includes grants to 12 local organizations working throughout Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District. The organizations funded include Athens Limestone Children’s Advocacy Center, Attention Homes of Northwest Alabama, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Tennessee Valley, Community Action of Northwest Alabama, Decatur Youth Services, Morgan County System of Services, Mosaic Mentoring of North Alabama, National Children’s Advocacy Center, Parents and Children Together, The E.WE Foundation, United Cerebral Palsy of Huntsville and Tennessee Valley.

“This is the 8th year we have received funding from the Children’s Trust Fund. We are beyond grateful… support from the CTF allows us to implement vital programs into our community, fostering a safer environment for all children and their families,” explained Christina Bowsher, community awareness coordinator at the Limestone Child Advocacy Center.

Children’s Trust Fund partnered with the University of Alabama College of Human Environmental Science and the Center for Business and Economic Research, Culverhouse College of Business, to release the 2021 study on the enormous intervention cost. Services associated with child abuse and neglect incidents are estimated to cost taxpayers $3.7 billion annually. Based on this report and the number of first-time child maltreatment incidences reported, the average intervention cost is $368,416 per case. In contrast, prevention is much more cost-effective. The average cost per participant in an ADCANP/CTF-funded program is $53 for adults and $11 for youth.