Parent aides: an intervention program in cases of child abuse and neglect

The article describes a program at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles that has developed a treatment modality for child abuse and/or neglect families using nonabusive parents as a critical link between the patient families and community and professional resources. A component of a larger intervention program, the Parent Aide Program involves nine aides recruited from the community and given orientation and training to some of the probelms of child abusing and neglecting families. Under supervision they are assigned to selected families identified at the hospital and function in a variety of ways. They provide many of the services of a "good neighbor" (e.g., emergency transportation and babysitting) as well as emotional support and encouragement.