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 48 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.

What's happening at Kempe?

SAVE THE DATE! OCTOBER 4 – 7, 2021

Call for Proposals Now Open for Kempe's International Virtual Conference: A Call to Action to Change Child Welfare! 

The Kempe Center is excited to host the 2nd annual virtual conference, A Global Call to Action to Change Child Welfare, October 4 – 7, 2021! Kempe's Call to Action requires bold, innovative, cutting-edge, and out-of-the-box thinking and approaches as we strive to build communities that amplify child and family well-being and social and community justice. Our call for proposals is now open! We warmly welcome submissions from those with lived expertise; child and family serving practitioners, supervisors, and administrators working in multiple systems; legal, mental health, and medical professionals; community and neighborhood leaders; researchers; policymakers; advocates; and other thought leaders. Learn more about this groundbreaking event at our A Call to Action Website and Submit your proposal today!