About Us
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 to 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
Angela Diaz, MD
Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
George W. Holden, PhD
Founding Member
Professor and Chair of the Psychology Department at
Southern Methodist University
Stacie LeBlanc, MEd, JD
Founding Member
President-Elect, American Professional Society on the Abuse of
Children, CEO, the UP Institute
Melissa Merrick, PhD
President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America
Mel Schneiderman, PhD
Founding Member
Senior Vice President, the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child
Protection of the New York Foundling, New York
Viola Vaughan-Eden, PhD, MJ
Founding Member
Professor & PhD Director at The Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work,
Norfolk State University
Victor Vieth, JD, MA
Director of Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project
National Initiative's Other Committees
Faith Committee
Craig Nelson; Cindy Miller-Perrin, Ph.D; Lisa Fontes, Ph.D.; Victor Vieth, JD; Darrell Armstrong, Masters in Divinity, Ed.S; Craig Nelson; Cindy Miller-Perrin, Ph.D; Lisa Fontes, Ph.D.
Evaluation Committee
David Finklehor, Ph.D.; Catherine Taylor, Ph.D., MSW, MPH; Julia Fleckman, Ph.D. MPH; George Holden, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Gershoff, Ph.D.
No Hit Zone Committee
Stacie Schrieffer LeBlanc, MEd, JD Chair
Training and Resource Committee
Mel Schneiderman, Ph.D. Chair
Fundraising Committee
George Holden, Ph.D. Chair
Policy Committee
David Corwin, MD Chair
Communications Committee
Viola Vaughan-Eden, Ph.D., MJ, LCSW Co-Chair; Debangshu Roygartner, Ph.D. Co-Chair
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
