18th National Conference on Child Abuse & Neglect

The Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN) within the Children’s Bureau was created under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) in 1996 to provide leadership in the field of child maltreatment. While the primary responsibility for responding to cases of child maltreatment rests with state and local agencies, OCAN serves as the national focal point for child abuse and neglect policy and program issues including:

• Federal Sponsor of the National Conferences on Child Abuse and Neglect
• Oversees the National Resource Centers
• Publishes the User Manual Series
• Coordinates the Federal Interagency Workgroup 
• Oversees Subcommittees on Research, Prevention, Domestic Violence/ Child Protective Services Interface, and Federal Early Childhood partners.

OCAN also oversees interagency collaborative efforts, including:

• Inter and intra-agency agreements
• Leads special initiatives related to child abuse and neglect prevention, intervention practice and systems reform
• Supports prevention activities through the Community- Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) Program
• Promotes improvements in Child Protective Service (CPS) systems through CAPTA discretionary grant activities