About
Our Mission
In The Fall of 2017 the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection of the New York Foundling, and the US Alliance to End the Hitting of Children sponsored the National Summit to End Corporal Punishment in the United States. The Summit brought together thirty-seven of the leading national experts in the field of violence against children and child maltreatment.
The goals of the Summit were to develop a multi-year, multi-dimensional strategy to end corporal punishment in the United States and to conceptualize the creation of a coordinating body to train professionals, educate parents, and disseminate information about evidence-based parenting programs. The culmination of the Summit was the formation of the National Initiative to End Corporal Punishment.
The National Initiative to End Corporal Punishment works in collaboration with the US Alliance Against the Hitting of Children, New York Foundling and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Our purpose is to provide up-to-date information about corporal punishment to parents and professionals with the aim of ending this practice in the United States.
National Initiative Executive Committee
Darrell Armstrong, DDiv, MDiv, EdS-MFT
Pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church, Trenton, New Jersey
David Corwin, MD Founding Member
Professor and Director of Forensic Services, University of Utah Pediatrics Department
Esaa Mohammad Sabti Samarah, PhD, LMSW
Assistant Professor School of Social Work University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Stacie LeBlanc, MEd, JD Founding Member
President Emeritus and Chair of Professional Education and Training,
Association of Professionals Solving the Abuse of Children, CEO, the UP Institute
Akeem Marsh, MD, DFAACAP
Mel Schneiderman, PhD Founding Member
President-Elect, Association of Professionals Solving the Abuse of Children
Viola Vaughan-Eden, PhD, MJ Founding Member
Victor Vieth, JD, MA
Director, Center for Faith & Child Protection
Director of Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project
National Initiative Executive Chairs
No Hit Zone Committee
Chair Stacie LeBlanc
Positive Parenting Committee
Chair Amy Baker
Evaluation Committee
Chair George Holden
Communications Committee (Social Media)
Chair Viola Vaughan-Eden
Faith Committee
Co-Chairs Victor Vieth, Darrell Armstrong
Ban School Corporal Punishment Committee
Co-Chairs Deb Sendek, Mel Schneiderman. Esaa Mohammad Samarsky
Public Health and Advocacy Committee
Co-Chairs David Corwin and Mel Schneiderman
Founding Partners
Academy on Violence and Abuse
The mission of the AVA is to advance health education and research on the recognition, treatment, and prevention of the health effects of violence and abuse throughout the life course. The vision of the AVA is that the recognition, treatment, and prevention of the health effects of violence and abuse are fully integrated into healthcare and society so that people of all ages are safe and healthy. Click here for the AVA website.
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
APSAC is a nonprofit, national multi-disciplinary professional society with a mission to improve society’s response to the abuse and neglect of its children. APSAC envisions a world where all maltreated or at-risk children and their families have access to the highest level of professional commitment and service. Especially important to APSAC is the dissemination of state-of-the-art practice in all professional disciplines related to child abuse and neglect. Click here for the APSAC website.
US Alliance to End the Hitting of Children
The Alliance, through education and legal means, seeks to end all social justifications and legal authorizations of corporal punishment. Achieving these goals will give children the same protection from this sort of physical violence as is already enjoyed by adults under the state and federal law. The U.S. Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that brings together individuals, groups, and organizations to create a unified voice calling for, and working toward the goal of ending all hitting of children. Click here for the US Alliance website.
The New York Foundling’s Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection
The mission of the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection of the New York Foundling is to prevent child maltreatment and promote the well-being of at-risk children through advocacy, professional development, public education, research and partnering with other like organizations and national leaders. The New York Foundling, in the tradition of openness and compassion of its sponsors, the Sisters of Charity, helps children, youth, adults, and families in need through services, supports, and advocacy that strengthen family and community and help each individual reach their full potential. Click here for the Fontana Center website. The Fontana Center also sponsors Psychological Maltreatment Alliance and The New York State Initiative to Prevent Child Sex Abuse
Supporting Partners
- Abbott House
- Alliance for HOPE International
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Psychological Association
- American Psychiatric Association
- Association of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Nurses (APGNN)
- Autistic Self Advocacy Network
- Child USA
- Child Welfare League of America
- Circle of Parents
- Committee for Children
- EndCAN
- Healthy Families America
- Healthy Families Jefferson Counties
- Helfer Society
- Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma (IVAT)
- International Association of Forensic Nurses
- Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York
- Lives in the Balance
- National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
- National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
- National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan (NPEIV)
- Nollie Jenkins Family Center Partnership
- Prevent Child Abuse America
- Prevent Child Abuse New York
- Prevent Child Abuse Vermont
- Sacred Spaces
- The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- The Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse
- The New York Foundling
- Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital (Upstate Medical University)
- Washington Children’s Child Abuse Program
- Zero Abuse Project
Our Affiliate Organizations
