Developing child abuse prevention, identification, and treatment systems in Eastern Europe

Although the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989 brought a welcome end to the Cold War, the subsequent reestablishment of independent Eastern Euro pean countries revealed a host of problems. Among these was frequent child abuse and neglect, although lack of epidemiological data precluded any accu rate estimate of prevalence. In an effort to address the problem of child a buse within this rapidly changing sociopolitical environment, the Children' s Mental Health Alliance and the Sores Foundation organized the Eastern Eur opean Child Abuse and Child Mental Health Project in 1995. The authors desc ribe the development of this multidisciplinary initiative involving collabo ration with professionals from 17 countries in Eastern Europe. They highlig ht the goals, principles, and major phases of the project, as well as some of the challenges involved in its implementation.