April marks Child Abuse Prevention Month. Families, individuals, and systems across communities are coming together to prevent child abuse by reinforcing the networks around them. As a committed leader in prevention, Waypoint recognizes that support works best when it starts early, before challenges have a chance to grow — creating stronger, healthier outcomes for families.
Casey Wortman, a Manager with Waypoint’s Family Preservation Team, says we are committed to “pulling out little pieces of hope, walking the path with families, filling gaps to success, and starting from ground zero.”
Waypoint’s prevention work centers on resilience, supportive relationships, practical help when times are hard, and skills parents need to raise healthy children.
Built on these protective factors, we provide programs and support geared toward parents and families. Waypoint’s Family Resource Centers, located in five locations across New Hampshire, have served as a guiding light for many of the families we serve. At our centers, we provide families with a space to connect and gather with other families in their community. This includes support groups, home visiting opportunities, help with parenting and early childhood development, support during pregnancy, basic needs relief, facilitating connections to housing resources in the state, and more.
For many families, this support becomes life-changing. One family recently shared a simple but powerful message with our team: “Thank you for giving us a new life.”
Those words came from an 11‑year‑old boy whose family had experienced significant hardship. After a domestic violence situation, his mother was navigating court involvement, housing instability, and ongoing stress while caring for her children. With support from Waypoint, the family was able to relocate to a safe apartment in a new community. Today, the children are thriving.
Waypoint also provides family support services for families with children of all ages. Families are matched with Waypoint’s Family Support Specialists to work on goals defined by the family. Specialists offer support in setting positive discipline strategies, family budgeting, child wellness and development concerns, and support during recovery from substance use, and it’s all free. Any family can access these services and benefit from the one-on-one, confidential, respectful, and goal-oriented assistance of our specialists.
Sometimes, prevention looks like helping families navigate small but meaningful changes. For example, one father and his teenager came to Waypoint struggling with communication. With guidance from a Family Support Specialist, they learned new ways to listen to one another. Over time, support also expanded to practical needs like health care coordination and car repairs, which brought new stability to the family.
Another program we offer at Waypoint, is geared toward pregnant or newly parenting families. During pregnancy, Waypoint’s Family Support Specialists help families with prenatal health and nutrition, preparing for their baby’s arrival, and connections to local programs and supports.
While families are parenting their baby or toddler, our services provide help with postpartum care and recovery, building a foundation of strong parent-child bonds, and connecting to playgroups, housing, and food support. This program is dedicated to delivering preventative care before problems arise by making sure young children feel safe and new parents feel educated, prepared, and connected to their community and resources.
Waypoint has spent years building the resources and tools needed to offer preventative care and support families before challenges escalate. Too often, families have been taught that the systems meant to help them don’t, which can lead to discouragement. To those families, we know that, “a lot of times people don’t take the time to listen, but at Waypoint, we do,” Wortman says. We offer a different path, one grounded in commitment and hope. Prevention happens when care providers meet families where they are and work together to address the barriers that stand in the way of health and well-being.
As Emily Hacker, Clinical Director with Waypoint’s Family Preservation Team believes, achieving these outcomes requires care that is rooted in “evidence-based practices, honors families’ autonomy, recognizes intent, alleviates shame, and draws water from the well.” Waypoint is proud to be part of a broader community of organizations dedicated to delivering this kind of care, because we know it works.
Each of us has a role to play in prevention. By learning about the needs in our communities and supporting the systems that provide care, like schools and local organizations, we can help build safer, stronger environments for children and families.