Welcome to the APA Division 37 Section on Child Maltreatment Website. The Section on Child Maltreatment is the only permanent organization within the APA to specifically address issues related to child maltreatment policy, practice, and research. Founded in 1994, the Section on Child Maltreatment’s mission is to support and promote scientific inquiry, training, professional practice, and advocacy in the area of child maltreatment. I am eager and honored to serve as the section’s president in 2023 and 2024 and to work alongside my colleagues within the section to advance our critical mission. We welcome scholars, practitioners, and child advocates from various disciplines to the section. The section’s multidisciplinary members work in various capacities – in research labs, clinical practices, the classroom, and in law and policy settings – toward the common goal of improving the lives of children affected by maltreatment.  

While always critically important to address, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated challenges associated with child maltreatment and has disproportionately impacted communities marginalized by structural and institutionalized racism. Accordingly, Section on Child Maltreatment members have worked together to develop a special issue in the journal Child Maltreatment specifically on the topic of “COVID-Related Professional Challenges, Innovations, and Implications for Child Maltreatment Victims.” This special issue is slated to be published this year and you can learn more about the work in this special issue at APA where it will be featured in the Section on Child Maltreatment's Presidential Symposium.

Importantly, we urge child maltreatment scholars, practitioners, and advocates to translate research into meaningful action designed to address child maltreatment broadly. The negative impacts of child maltreatment have myriad downstream consequences which are exacerbated by the societal trauma of oppression. We echo past APA President Dr. Thema Bryant’s call to action by encouraging child maltreatment scholars, practitioners, and advocates to urgently address issues at the intersection of child abuse, trauma, cultural oppression, and racism.  

Please join and become involved in the Section on Child Maltreatment! I am eager to connect and engage you with section activities in ways that best align with your goals and interests. Please contact me with questions about section involvement. Here are some of the ways you can engage with the Section on Child Maltreatment: 

• Join the section (First year is free for students).
• Volunteer or nominate yourself or a trusted colleague to serve as an office on the Executive Board or Student Board.
• Serve as a liaison with other sections/divisions. 
• Participate in early career professionals networking activities.
• Participate in listserv discussions.
• Submit an article sharing your research or practice or advocacy insights in the Newsletter.
• Nominate a colleague or student for one of our Awards recognizing excellence in research and practice.
• Attend section activities at APA convention. 
• Join a Task Force on Child Maltreatment.  

Simply joining the Section on Child Maltreatment is a contribution to science-based child maltreatment advocacy. It is with warm enthusiasm that I encourage you to join the Section on Child Maltreatment and help in our collective efforts to advocate for the most vulnerable of youth -- those impacted by child maltreatment.  

Sincerely,

Margaret Stevenson, PhD

2023–24 president, Div. 37 (Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice) Section on Child Maltreatment