Political Advocacy

Running head: POLITICAL ADVOCACY 1

Political Advocacy: Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention

Student Name

School of Nursing, Minnesota State University, Mankato

NURS 482: Population Focused Care for RNs

Dr. XXX (faculty name)

Date

DISCLAIMER: This sample paper is intended to be a resource to better understand how key

content may be addressed in a paper for this assignment. The sample paper is not intended to be

used as a guide for formatting, as the assignment grading criteria and/or APA format

requirements may differ from current requirements; or used to obtain content for your individual

paper. This sample paper may not reflect a paper that received a 100% grade.

POLITICAL ADVOCACY 2

Dear Mr. XXXX and Glencoe-Silver Lake School Board,

My name is XXXX. I graduated from Glencoe-Silver Lake (GSL) in 2016 and I currently live in the community. I am a newly graduated registered nurse (RN) and I recently accepted a position at the Glencoe Regional Health hospital as a medical-surgical nurse. I am also finishing my bachelor’s degree in nursing from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Growing up and now working as an RN in the community has made me aware of growing concerns that may not be addressed as often as it should. I have been working closely with the Mcleod Alliance for Victims of Domestic Violence (MAVDV), and this organization has opened my eyes to the growing issue of child abuse and neglect that is present within our community. As a public health nursing student, I have been able to research and study this topic more in-depth in the community, state-wide, and nationally. It is no secret that due to the COVID-19 pandemic children are more vulnerable to abuse and neglect, as many children are forced to stay home with their abusers. The incidence and prevalence of child abuse and neglect in the community puts children at risk for learning deficits, depression, anxiety, and defiant behaviors towards peers and educators. In 2018, the Minnesota Department of Human Resources (MDHS) received 86,060 reports of child abuse and neglect within the state of Minnesota (MDHS, 2018). When comparing data to previous years, the incidence of child abuse and neglect continues to rise. After speaking with Rhonda Buerkle, the executive director of the MAVDV, she states that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more children have been calling in to their office or physically coming in to seek help (personal communication, September 2, 2020). She explains that the children’s’ safe place was school, in which they could escape their abusers, but now they are forced to stay home and deal with the consequences of their abuser(s). I have noticed an increase need to spread awareness of this issue and provide proper education to school-age children on this sensitive topic as many children are unaware of how they can seek help or what to do if they are experiencing abuse or neglect. The MAVDV website (2020) shows that they gave 21 school, community, and professional training and education presentations within the community, but GSL was not one of the districts that accepted one of these trainings. These presentations are crucial because it provides a resource for children who may need help and allows staff members to become educated on the warning signs of possible abuse or neglect in children and how to properly report these suspicions. Since most children are distance-learning, educators are unable to physically be with the children. I am proposing to implement a child abuse and neglect virtual self-paced training for all staff members and an educational presentation to be shown to all students. Although child abuse and neglect may not be occurring at school, there is a direct correlation between the child’s ability to learn and the exposure of abuse and neglect. An article written by Esteban Ortiz-Ospina (2017) states, “The interaction between violence and education operates in both directions, which means education can be used as an instrument to reduce the prevalence of violence” (para. 16). Children are more likely to succeed in school if their primary health needs are being addressed and cared for. Prevention is key to this issue because long-term stress in children’s bodies can lead to an increase in cortisol levels, which impairs neural connections in the brain that are crucial for learning (Ortiz-Ospina, 2017).

POLITICAL ADVOCACY 3

GSL’s district school nurse would be a great partner in implementing this program, along with community organizations, such as the MAVDV, United Way, and the Healthy Communities Health Coalition. All of these organizations have funds that are available in assisting school districts with educational trainings for staff and students. After speaking with the MAVDV, they would gladly be a partner and supply the needed presentations and education for this program to be successful.

Through the use of MAVDV’s child abuse and neglect prevention presentation and training, staff members will receive the proper education needed to ensure the safety of their students, along with the proper resources to contact in the case of suspected abuse or neglect occurrence. The children would also benefit as they will be able to have the contact information of agencies and also develop an awareness of the warning signs of abuse and neglect to become more vigilant and attentive to the issue. As distance-learning continues, it is important to understand the detrimental effects of abuse and neglect in children, as these effects have the potential to affect their educational success and abilities. I ask that you consider this information and implement this needed training into your school district.

Sincerely, NAME & CONTACT INFORMATION

POLITICAL ADVOCACY 4

Fact Sheet

• In 2018, Minnesota had a reported 86,060 reports of child abuse and neglect state-wide (MDHS, 2018)

• Disruption in a child’s brain due to abuse or neglect can cause impairments in the child’s learning abilities and contribute to learning deficits, memory impairment, and decreased self-control (Children’s Bureau, 2019)

• Children of parents who are experiencing additional stress from the COVID-19 pandemic are five times more likely to mistreated and neglected (Lawson, et al., 2020)

• Negative effects from abuse and neglect can last a lifetime, so awareness and prevention can reduce the risk of children experiencing adverse health concerns, such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Children’s Bureau, 2019)

I propose that an implementation of the McLeod Alliance for Victims of Domestic Violence child abuse and prevention program be taught to staff members in the Glencoe-Silver Lake school district and presented to all students in the format of a virtual PowerPoint to assist in prevention and awareness of this critical issue occurring in our community. In you have additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your time and consideration for bringing awareness to such an important health concern. NAME & CONTACT INFORMATION

POLITICAL ADVOCACY 5

Reflection

This assignment was very beneficial because I was able to get out of my comfort zone

and propose a community change implementation within a local school district. I was nervous to

propose the idea at first because I knew the GSL school district has denied the opportunity to

conduct a child abuse and neglect prevention program in the past, so I was fearful they would

reject it again. After gathering evidence-based research and obtaining information from

community members pertaining to the topic, I was able to build my confidence and send the

proposed idea to the GSL school district’s superintendent. As a future public health nurse, this

assignment was extremely beneficial as I was able to step outside my comfort zone and be an

advocate for children in the community.

After contacting the superintendent, Mr. XXX, he was receptive to the idea of

implementing this prevention and awareness program into the school district but stated that his

only concern was getting the teachers involved as they are already stressed with virtual teaching.

I then emailed him the PowerPoint presentation and training module in the case that the teachers

are willing to participate in the program. I was enthused that he was interested in the program, as

he was asking many questions about community programs that are also involved in prevention

and awareness of child abuse and neglect. He then added that he is seeing an increase in phone

calls from the child protective services, so he explained that this program would be very

beneficial for all students and staff.

I was very pleased that he accepted my proposal and further contacted me for more

information, but one thing I would do different in the future is provide him with more

community statistics and data prevalence, as this directly pertains to the school district. He was

POLITICAL ADVOCACY 6

very eager to learn about the statistics of child abuse and neglect in school-age children, so

gathering more information from public health and social workers could have strengthened the

presented information and made it more personal to the school district.

Overall, this assignment was much more beneficial than I originally thought it would be.

I learned to become a public health advocate for those in need in my community and truly strive

to provide evidence-based information and skills to back-up my propositions. I have gained more

confidence in myself and my nursing abilities, as I feel that my proposed implementation was

well-received and respected by school officials.

POLITICAL ADVOCACY 7

References

Children’s Bureau. (2019, April). Long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect. Retrieved

from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/long_term_consequences.pdf

Lawson, M., Peil, M. H., & Simon, M. (2020). Child maltreatment during the COVID-19

pandemic: Consequences of parental job loss on psychological and physical abuse

towards children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 104709.

https://doi.org/10,1016/j.chiabu.2020.104709

Mcleod Alliance for Victims of Domestic Violence. (2020). About. Retrieved from

https://www.mcleodalliance.org/about/

Minnesota Department of Human Resources. (2018). Minnesota annual child maltreatment

report, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.leg.mn.gov/docs/2020/mandated/200126.pdf

Ortiz-Ospina, E. (2017, December 17). Child maltreatment and educational outcomes. Retrieved

from https://ourworldindata.org/child-maltreatment-and-educational-outcomes