Hispanics Against Child Abuse and Neglect (HACAN)

HACAN was founded in 1985 with a mission to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect by providing culturally competent education, intervention, and community advocacy with focus on the Latino/Hispanic community.

What we are doing...

For Parents: Fortaleciendo la Familia (trans. Strengthening the Family) is a Spanish-language parenting curriculum developed for immigrant families that HACAN has successfully taught for seventeen years to nearly 2,000 parents. It is based on the premise that child abuse and neglect can be prevented by providing parents with the skills needed to resolve family conflicts in an atmosphere of mutual respect, cooperation, love and understanding. In addition, HACAN offers trainer certification to individuals from other local agencies that have experience working with low-income, Latino families.

For Youth: HACAN has served low-income girls and boys, ages 7-16, through the Morning Star program. At weekly meetings, Morning Star provides participants with a safe environment that empowers & educates them to make wise decisions as they transition into a new culture. Through fun and interactive skill-building workshops, activities, and field trips, we strengthen their self-esteem and encourage the growth of their leadership potential as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty, low-education and any family violence or neglect. HACAN also makes regular homes visits and connects participants and their families to many other beneficial community resources. HACAN offers a variety of other prevention programs to youth from at-risk communities, including teaching the “Good Touch, Bad Touch” curriculum to elementary and middle school children and offering mentors through a community agency partnership. Since its inception HACAN has empowered over 1,000 children.

For the Community: HACAN collaborates with many local and state agencies to advocate for the availability of community resources to help prevent child abuse. HACAN has offered workshops, trainings and presentations; participated in media activities; and created materials to spread awareness in the English and Spanish speaking communities. In addition, each April, in honor of Child Abuse Awareness Month, HACAN invites hundreds of individuals, organizations and businesses to join together and work towards ending child abuse and neglect at their Annual Child Abuse Prevention Breakfast.