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Recent attention to children's well being has generated research showing that safety and home-school relations are two of the most important indicators of children's well being. Recent studies have also demonstrated the consistent differences in perspectives between children and teachers and between parents and teachers in regard to home-school relations and between children and parents in regard to children safety. This paper reports findings from an exploratory study, conducted as part of the "Strong Communities" initiative in South Carolina, comparing between the three perspectives of children, parents, and teachers in regard to children both home-school relations and safety. The findings show significant differences regarding almost all items between the three groups. For example, teachers felt school and the way to and back from school were safer for children than how the children themselves felt. However, other patterns were found with regard to home-school relations. The article concludes with a discussion of the apparent weight given to each of these perspectives, possible explanations for the gaps found and its practical implications for social indicators usage.

Abstract: Objective: The purposes of the study, carried out in the context of Strong Communities for Children in the Golden Strip (Strong Communities) in South Carolina, were to identify a set of ICD-9 codes (The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, which represents the standard nomenclature for classifying mortality and morbidity data), to establish base rates for ICD-9 coded child safety in a community measure and to undertake a preliminary analysis of the validity of ICD-9 coded injuries as a measure for child safety at the neighborhood level. Method: The study drew on data from two sources. Data on child injuries were extracted from the linked agency administrative data base maintained by the South Carolina Budget and Control Board. Data on neighborhood distress were derived from census data in the census block group level. An initial pool of ICD-9 codes for children''s injuries was provided for the 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 reporting periods. An expert panel consisting of five physicians was convened to review the ICD-9 codes to assess their relationship to child safety, and to collectively decide on the codes to be used as the measure and proxy for child maltreatment. Results: The findings offer a glance to the utility and potential of using ICD-9 coded injuries as a measure of child safety. The results present a final list of 323 codes of the ICD-9 codes (230 codes of child physical safety, 57 codes of child sexual abuse, and 36 codes of child safety not otherwise classified). Moderate to strong correlations were found between the suggestive codes and the Neighborhood Distress Index. Further, these data served well to establish a baseline to monitor the prevalence of child safety and injuries. Conclusions: The finding offers preliminary support for the validity of ICD-9 coded child injuries as a measure of child safety. There is great potential in this approach for monitoring the prevalence of injuries of children as well as children safety in the community level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article reports the evaluation results from Strong Communities for Children, a multi-year comprehensive community-based initiative to prevent child maltreatment and improve children's safety. The outcome study consisted of a survey of a random sample of caregivers of children under age 10 in the Strong Communities service area and a set of comparison communities matched at the block group level on demography. Survey data were collected in two waves 4 years apart. Data were collected on (a) perceptions of the neighborhood and neighbors (e.g., neighboring, collective efficacy), (b) perceptions of neighbors' parenting practices, (c) parental attitudes and beliefs (e.g., parental stress; parental efficacy), and (d) self-reported parenting practices. The survey data were supplemented by data on substantiated reported rates of child abuse and neglect per 1,000 children and ICD-9 coded child injuries suggesting child abuse and neglect per 1,000 children. Compared to the non-intervention sample across time, the Strong Communities samples showed significant changes in the expected direction for social support, collective efficacy, child safety in the home, observed parenting practices, parental stress, parental efficacy, self-reported parenting practices, rates of officially substantiated child maltreatment, and rates of ICD-9 coded child injuries suggesting child maltreatment. These promising results, obtained through multiple methods of evaluation, confirm that a community mobilization strategy can shift norms of parents' care for their children and neighbors' support for one another, so that young children are safer at home and in the community. Replications should be undertaken and evaluated in other communities under diverse auspices., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Strong Communities initiative in the Upstate region of South Carolina strives to strengthen the community and prevent child maltreatment through the enhancement of neighborliness and volunteerism. During the first 5 years of the initiative, more than 4,500 volunteers contributed their time. Strong Communities has nurtured neighborly volunteers-residents whose community service could be characterized as being between formal agency-based volunteerism and pure neighborliness (good citizenship). Conducting a phone survey of a random sample of volunteers in Strong Communities and analyzing an existing database on the contributed service, we studied the volunteers' characteristics, attitudes, and perceptions. Volunteers in Strong Communities come from all parts of the community and include a high percentage of minorities. They have a strong psychological sense of neighborliness and commitment to their communities. The volunteers also expressed a high level of integration into Strong Communities in their knowledge, identity, ongoing activities, satisfaction, and attitudes. The Strong Communities initiative appears to be succeeding in making opportunities for neighborly action easily available in everyday life.