The Raise Foundation is Orange County’s Child Abuse Prevention Council as officially designated by the Orange County Board of Supervisors (Resolution No. 74-492) in 1974. This is in keeping with the California Welfare and Institutions Code (Section 18982) which requires every county to have a child abuse prevention council.
We became incorporated as a private non-profit 501(c)(3) agency in 1987 under the name The Child Abuse Prevention Council of Orange County. In 1999, we changed our name to Prevent Child Abuse – Orange County. We became The Raise Foundation. Better parents. Better kids. TM in 2003.
Our purpose has remained the same throughout: fulfill our role as Child Abuse Prevention Council, prevent child abuse by working to strengthen families and by collaborating with other family-serving agencies to maximize impact while reducing duplication of services.
In Strengthening Families: A Guidebook for Early Childhood Programs, the Center for the Study of Social Policy identifies five “protective factors” that appear to reduce the occurrence in families of child maltreatment (Center for the Study of Social Policy, Strengthening Families: A Guidebook for Early Childhood Programs, Second Edition, July 2007). The protective factors are:
- Parental resilience
- An array of social connections
- Adequate knowledge of parenting and development
- Concrete support in times of need, including access to necessary services, such as mental health
- Social and emotional competence of children
This research-based approach to reducing child abuse has been our guide in the development of all of our programs.
We use varied approaches to fight child abuse on every level here in Orange County . Our delivery methods include:
- The Child Abuse Prevention Council
- Public Awareness & Community Support
- Training for Professionals in the field
- Family Resource Centers
- Parent Education
- Health Access
- The Caring for Kids Community - Basic Needs Assistance
- Resources in Motion
Detailed information on all of these can be found in our most recent Annual Report to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.