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Sustainability Issues

The key to sustaining the desired outcomes of the 5-year plan is the extent to which Massachusetts YSOs, their families and their surrounding communities incorporate the child safety and abuse prevention principles contained in this Report as a shared responsibility. YSOs, community leadership and parents/caregivers must engage deliberately with one another in local prevention efforts for these initiatives to become self-sustaining at the community level. Parents must be incorporated as full partners in any YSO changes that involve the safety and well-being of their children, and all must remain persistent in the belief that the better the children and youth are protected, the more their community will thrive.

• The Task Force will work with YSOs, community leadership and parent/caregiver representatives to explore ways to support, strengthen and sustain this level of mutual engagement.
• As new YSOs and new parents emerge as part of the normal evolution of Massachusetts communities, the continued availability of training, education, and information concerning child maltreatment and its prevention will be critical and must be maintained.
• The Task Force will explore and make additional recommendations about the types and levels of continued state monitoring, implementation assistance, training support and oversight that would be appropriate to this task.