Survey of the Army Child Advocacy Program in Europe

The Army Child Advocacy Program is an installation or community command program designed to promote the well-being of Army dependent children by preventing, controlling, and treating child abuse or neglect. At the European bases surveyed, program officials generally believed that there were not enough medical or social services resources within the military to adequately address child abuse or neglect problems. In many host countries, there is limited access to local community resources to augment the service resources. The assumption of program responsibilities by the Medical Command rather than by line commands has led to program shortcomings in prevention and identification of child abuse or neglect problems. All 15 communities surveyed appeared to have some educational and publicity efforts in the prevention and identification efforts, but these were generally directed at those likely to encounter child abuse neglect incidents rather than at the community population. Each of the 15 communities had procedures to respond to reported incidents; in some communities, the system was formalized, but in others it was not. Development of standard operating procedures would help individuals to refer cases and help provide institutional knowledge required to maintain program continuity. Communities prepare summary reports and use the information locally for case evaluation and treatment; however, formal reports are not being consistently prepared or forwarded to appropriate medical commands. More involvement by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, and stricter adherence to program regulations in certain areas would strengthen the child advocacy program.