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Community Education | Protect And Comfort Infants | Parent Helpline | School-Based Personal Safety
Protect And Comfort Infants
COCA’s "Protect And Comfort Infants" – PACI Program provides educational information to target audiences in our community about the normalcy of infant crying, the dangers of shaking babies, and offers practical suggestions about how to care for infants in ways that are proactive and nurturing.
Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a form of child abuse that includes a combination of brain injuries that result from violent shaking, with or without battering or other physical impact. Although the true incidence of SBS cases is not known, nationally, it is estimated that as many as 1,400 cases occur each year resulting in approximately 600 infant fatalities a year due to violent shaking. The overall outcome of children identified with shaken baby injury is poor: over 2/3 die or suffer a permanent disability. The medical costs associated with the initial and long-term care for these children are substantial with estimates ranging from $300,000 to over $1,000,000 for the first five years of care for a severely injured SBS baby that survives the initial injury. During 2009, our own local Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center reported 29 SBS cases with 5 fatalities.
In 1991, the Manuel D. & Rhoda Mayerson Foundation in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation generously provided start-up funding for COCA to implement a “Don’t Shake the Baby” prevention program. Again in 2004, the Manuel D. & Rhoda Mayerson Foundation and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation provided substantial funding to support COCA’s new Protect And Comfort Infants (PACI) program, a collaborative effort with the Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children that allowed us to begin a research initiative as we expanded our shaken baby syndrome prevention efforts throughout our community. COCA staff and PACI Hospital Volunteers implemented a pilot project that provided information and support through face-to-face contact with mothers of newborns on the maternity floors of Good Samaritan Hospital and Middletown Regional Hospital.
Since the program’s inception, over 300,000 informational packets have been distributed to parents of newborns at maternity wards in area hospitals. These packets are also available in Spanish to accommodate the area’s growing Hispanic population. Many Young Caregivers have attended educational presentations and received lanyard key chains as memory tools with our Helpline number for them to call if they need help with a crying baby. And, over 225 special presentations have also been provided to approximately 2,000 pregnant and parenting teens through high school GRADS programs. During 2009 alone, almost 28,000 educational packets were distributed to parents of newborns through 15 different area hospitals and medical facilities. Over 70 educational presentations about Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) were also provided to Day Care Providers, pregnant and parenting teens, selected high-risk populations, and young caregivers who provide childcare and babysitting services.
Last year, COCA PACI Hospital Volunteers provided information and support through 1,436 face-to-face contact visits with mothers of newborns on the maternity floor of Good Samaritan Hospital. COCA coordinates these prevention efforts with numerous local and regional agencies and works closely with the Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children professionals who provide us with information and assist with related research projects.
In an effort to increase public awareness, COCA developed a public service announcement, new posters and billboard ads targeted to appeal to the male population, since approximately 70% of the perpetrators of shaken babies are male. View our Public Service Announcement made possible by funding from Insuring The Children, and the creative pro-bono services provided by Sandlot Productions, Inc. and Red Echo Post. Butler County Ohio Children’s Trust Fund awarded a grant to COCA for a Social Marketing Campaign for SBS. Funds have been used to put the “Never Shake A Baby” message in English and Spanish on regular, illuminated and digital billboards throughout the county.
COCA coordinates these prevention efforts with numerous local and statewide agencies and works closely with the Every Child Succeeds initiative and the Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children. With support from the United Way of Greater Cincinnati and other funders, our efforts continue to expand to new counties throughout the state, and include a collaborative effort with the Family Nurturing Center in Northern Kentucky, as we embrace new opportunities to work with parents and caregivers of all ages.
As the agency with the largest Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) prevention program in Ohio, COCA formed a statewide initiative in March, 2007 - SBS Project OHIO. Through this initiative, COCA worked with Ohio Senator Stephen Stivers, who introduced Ohio Senate Bill 144. OSB 144 was signed into law and enacted on February 29, 2008. It mandates SBS education to targeted audiences and requires recording of all SBS cases in the statewide - automated child welfare information system. The new law was named Claire’s Law, after Claire Fishpaw who was shaken by a babysitter at 11 months old. Now eight, Claire has learning disabilities, but is recovering. Claire’s father Jon Fishpaw is a member of our Board of Trustees. As a result of COCA’s efforts, Ohio will become one of the first states in the nation to track the number of statewide cases annually, as well as provide a definition of SBS in state statute.
COCA has received testimony from parents and caregivers about the effectiveness and importance of our PACI Program. While much work and research still remains to be done, it is evident that children’s lives already are being saved because of these prevention efforts.
2009 PACI PROGRAM IMPACT RESULTS
- 93% or 1,350 of the 1,452 individuals who returned a survey response card reported learning about the normalcy of crying, the dangers of shaking babies and ways to soothe crying babies from the educational packets provided,
- 99% or 811 of the 820 individuals who completed a Retrospective Survey reported learning about the normalcy of crying, the dangers of shaking babies and ways to soothe crying babies after attending an educational presentation.
- 82% or 265 of the 324 individuals who were contacted by phone reported telling others who care for their baby about the dangers of shaking babies.
For more information, please contact COCA at 513.936.8009.
You can also visit: http://www.dontshake.com/
Link to Public Service Announcement (http://24.29.3.237/coca/coca-small.html)
All material contained herein © The Council on Child Abuse of Southern Ohio, Inc. 2010
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