The Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect
Our vision is to create a world without abuse and neglect
The Kempe Mission
The Kempe Center was the first of its kind, established in 1972 to better understand and prevent child maltreatment and to serve affected children and their families. For the past 50 years, Kempe has promoted understanding, knowledge and best practices to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect locally, nationally and internationally.
Today we honor our legacy while looking ahead for ways to transform our field. It is our mission to improve the lives of children and families. We believe that abuse and neglect are preventable and people are resilient. We are curious. We take a stand. We test assumptions. Our leadership in advocacy, research, education and clinical work drives innovative strategies that transform the field. Through our work we strengthen families, communities and the systems that serve them. We are a catalyst, connecting people, information and best practices to translate knowledge into action.
Our vision is a world without abuse and neglect.
Kempe Statement on Gender-Affirming Care
The Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect strongly condemns the directive issued by Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Feb. 22 targeting transgender youth and their parents and medical providers by categorizing gender affirming healthcare as “child abuse.”
As the world’s first academic center dedicated specifically to the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect, we are aware of no scientific study suggesting that gender-affirming therapeutic treatments constitute child abuse. To the contrary, the scientific literature makes clear that transgender youth who do not receive such care may be at risk of substantial harm, including death. Additionally, healthcare professional societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Medical Association, affirm that gender-affirming therapies and treatments for transgender youth are healthy and appropriate and should be widely available.
The Kempe Center calls on all professionals in the child welfare and medical communities to respect and defend the privacy rights of all youth and families so that they can receive the evidence-based medical care they need. We must ensure that neither the diagnosis of child abuse nor the child welfare system is weaponized for political purposes. The work that we do must continue to be centered on the health and well-being of children, prioritize keeping children with their families, and facilitate the support and care children and families need to thrive. We must lean upon the best of our scientific knowledge to guide the care of children, not political agendas.
The Kempe Center joined together with leaders in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect, including the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), asserting that gender-affirming care is not, in itself, child abuse.An amicus brief was filed by The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children and a group of child abuse and child advocacy organizations, including the The Kempe Center, to take a stand on this matter which affects children and families of Texas.Read the full statement from The Kempe Center by clicking here
Any questions about this statement or the work of the Kempe Center should be directed to Professor Warren Binford at warren.binford@cuanschutz.edu or 916-719-7796.
This statement is joined by the Stress, Trauma and Anxiety Research and Treatment (START) Center. Questions about the START Center should be directed to Dr. Steven Berkowitz at steven.berkowitz@cuanschutz.edu.
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What's happening at Kempe?
Join the CARE Network as a Designated Provider!
Expertise to conduct medical exams and behavioral health assessments to evaluate suspected cases of child abuse and neglect is extremely limited. The CARE Network's aim is to increase local capacity by building appropriate infrastructure to provide technical assistance and resources through a state-funded program that develops and maintains a standardized, coordinated response to suspected child abuse and neglect through a network of designated healthcare providers.
Kempe Research Institute - Summer 2022 Courses: Save the Date! August 22-26, 2022
The Kempe Research Institute is offering two one-week, in person intensive courses in Denver that will feature in-depth teaching and dedicated mentoring by national and international experts with a goal to draft a complete research proposal suitable for completion as a scholarly project for Child Abuse fellows, early faculty, or as a Master's or Doctoral thesis.
Connect with us to learn more about Kempe!
Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn on the bottom left corner of this page. Join our virtual community to connect with your fellow respectful helpers and stay current on the latest multi-disciplinary resources from Kempe Center professionals and our partners! Join our mail list below to learn more about upcoming events, offerings and programs from the Kempe Center. If you need to contact a Kempe Center professional, please email: Kempe.Center@ucdenver.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!
Connecting Change Makers around the world working for Justice and Fairness for Children, Youth and Families
JOIN US! An open invitation to ALL Desiring Change to what is called Child Welfare. The Kempe Center is excited to host the 2022 International Virtual Conference: A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare. We will reconvene and expand the international community of practice with an expected 3000 participants from 20 countries gathering to debate, innovate, and discuss ways to transform child welfare and to re-imagine healthy, restorative, and healing ways of working with children and families. This eco-friendly event will showcase 60 hours of concurrent learning opportunities over 4 days (running 6:00am-9:00pm Denver time daily) and include:
- 8 Keynote Presentations from internationally renowned experts and thought leaders
- 150+ Interactive Workshops
- 40+ Conversation Circles to tackle some challenging questions and topics
- 12+ International Exchanges
- 10+ Media Circles
- 12+ Book/Report Club Discussions with authors
- Reflective spaces for unique constituency groups
- Creative spaces
- Social spaces
Contributing Participants from around the world
- Those with lived experiences, including parents, children and young people, kinship care providers and resource and adoptive parents
- Child welfare practitioners, supervisors, managers and administrators in the public and private sectors
- Parent allies and parent partners
- Tribal leaders, representatives and elders
- Cultural brokers
- Legal professionals, including judges, attorneys, court improvement professionals, guardians, ombudspersons, and others
- Health care professionals, such as mental health providers, child abuse pediatricians, and home visitors
- Those in the workforce development space, including trainers, coaches, mentors, learning managers and instructional designers
- Researchers and evaluators
- Academics
- Race equity leaders and consultants
- Community, prevention and neighborhood leaders and providers such as family resource centers
- Policymakers, working nationally and/or locally
- Innovators and model developers
- Child, parent and family advocates
- Students of all interested disciplines
Together, we commit to changing child welfare as we know it by connecting communities that are lifting up child and family well-being and social, racial, and family justice. The Kempe Center recognizes the conference overlaps with Yom Kippur. Please click here to read our message. For more information regarding the conference, please visit kempeconference.org.
NOW ACCEPTING A CALL FOR ABSTRACTS!
Submission deadline: June 10, 2022
Submit Here!
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! Group and early registration discounts are available. CLICK HERE for more information.
*If you have questions regarding the Call for Proposals or registering, please send an email to kempeconference@cuanschutz.edu
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Pathways to Prevention Webinar Series:
Translating Child Maltreatment and ACEs Prevention Research into Practice
We are partnering with the Program for Injury Prevention, Education & Research to connect prevention workers with the latest science on protecting children. This program provides free monthly webinars designed for those working in public health organizations, social services, child welfare, and the non-profit sector. These virtual learning experiences feature researchers working on various topics in the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect, as well as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Those working in prevention can learn more about the latest scientific research to apply in their work, while also helping to inform researchers about on-the-ground issues and priorities. These webinars are held on the third Wednesday of the month at 11:00 a.m. MT (10:00 a.m. PT, 1:00 p.m. ET).
VIEW THE FULL SCHEDULE
Radio Kempe
Radio Kempe brought you a special three-part series this past September. Throughout the month there were two podcast episodes and one interactive virtual Café on September, 23rd as we introduced you to Amnoni Myers, an advocate for elevating the voice of those with lived experience in child welfare.
Where the Light Beams Part 2: Amnoni Calls Us Forth! In the first podcast episode of Where the Light Beams, Radio Kempe introduced you to Amnoni Myers and her journey as she transitioned from the foster care system to a career inspired by her experiences advocating for children. The second episode was inspired by her call to action to act from a place of dignity and respect by actively listening to young people's voices and utilizing their individual experiences to fuel change in the child welfare system. We know that there is no one path to success for children. Amnoni called us to meet young people where they are to determine the actions that are right for them. What if we acknowledged that we do not have all of the answers? What if we decided that the people we are trying to save have the ability to save themselves? What would it look like to co-create with these communities, and how would this perspective help us serve with dignity and respect? Tune in to join the conversation! A big thanks to Amnoni and our friends at The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, who helped make this happen.
LISTEN NOW
Hear My Voice: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States
This moving picture book for older children and families (written by Professor Warren Binford, Director for Pediatric Law, Ethics & Policy, The Kempe Center and W.H. Lea for Justice Endowed Chair in Pediatric Law, Ethics and Policy, CU Anschutz) introduces a difficult topic, amplifying the voices and experiences of immigrant children detained at the Mexico/US border by using the children's actual words. Every day, children in migration are detained at the US-Mexico border. They are scared, alone, and their lives are in limbo. Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz shares the stories of 61 these children, from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Mexico, ranging in age from five to seventeen—in their own words from actual sworn testimonies. Befitting the spirit of the project, the book is in English on one side; then flip it over, and there's a complete Spanish version.