The Kempe Center

In 1962, Department of Pediatrics Chair C. Henry Kempe, MD, psychiatrist Brandt Steele, MD, and associates published the seminal paper The Battered Child Syndrome, the first work giving doctors an avenue for identifying and understanding child abuse. Ten years later, The Kempe Center—originally established as the National Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect—opened. Founded by Dr. Kempe, his wife Ruth Kempe, MD, and their colleagues, the Center immediately became the national and international place to learn how to recognize, treat, and ultimately prevent child mistreatment as a medical and social concern. The Center also became a pioneer in protective legislation and the home for the International Society for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect and an international journal.

More than four decades later, it continues to advance awareness globally while providing direct services regionally through its:

• Child Abuse Response and Evaluation (CARE) Network that connects health care and behavioral health providers statewide to expert training in child assessment.
• Child Protection Team that offers comprehensive, multidisciplinary consultation, assessment, treatment, and referral services for children and adolescents seen at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
• Child Welfare Training System, an advanced adult learning system for child welfare workers, other professionals, foster parents, and mandatory reporters.
• Fostering Healthy Futures®, a positive youth development program that uses mentoring and skills training to empower youth.
• SafeCare® Colorado partnership with the Colorado Department of Human Services that helps families of children under age five gain skills essential to their safety and well-being.
• Trauma-Responsive Implementation and Practice Program that integrates and implements trauma-responsive

Learn more at the Kempe Center website.