Child Abuse Prevention Alliance, Inc.  (CAPA) was founded as a grass-roots organization in Gwinnett County, Georgia, north of the city of Atlanta in the late 1980s.  CAPA’s Mission Statement initially stated our goal as an attempt to eliminate child abuse and neglect in all of its forms.  It was quickly recognized that each incident of abuse in a family is not in isolation.  In order to effectively combat this problem, a systemic approach involving the entire family and the community had to be taken.

From that time forward, CAPA has looked for innovative programs that focus on both intervention and preventative aspect to the families in need.  We have provided Homestead services (these are in-home services), Parent Aides services (that work with families on issues ranging from hygiene to appropriate behavior toward children), and Parenting Classes for various Departments of Family and Children Services (DFACS) in the metropolitan area.

For several years we were involved with the state of Georgia under the program of Resource Mothers.  This program was designed to connect experienced women who have had children with pregnant women who may be at risk (this included teen mothers, mothers at risk due to substance abuse, and first time mothers).  CAPA provided the training for the volunteers and oversaw the program as it developed.

One of the major services we have seen as the most effective in preventing child abuse is the Medicaid program called Targeted Case Management for Children at Risk  (TCM).  The program was designed to identify families in the community who faced issues that are commonly associated with abuse issues.  It included many risk factors, such as economic standards, the ability to obtain food, clothing and shelter, medical issues, and so forth.  After finding individuals meeting the criteria under the Medicaid program, we would connect them with community resources so they could have their needs met.  It was a very effective service.  As of the end of 2003, CAPA was working with over 2200 children in the community and approximately 750 families.  CAPA either provided services for these families or enabled the family to connect with appropriate services.  By the end of 2003, CAPA was employing 17 caseworkers and had a management staff of 2.

Additionally, we provided counseling services on a sliding scale, and work with other agencies in making sure the needs of the family are met.

As we worked on the TCM program, we found that our community was faced with several problems, but especially in the area of food, transportation and affordable housing.  Many single mothers and their children were living in squalid conditions in drug infested areas.  It was decided, as a result these problems that we would try to help specific families dealing with poor living conditions.  We formed a branch of CAPA called Spring House in January 2002.  Its specific function was to provide housing for low-income families.  Initially, we have built homes and made them available to families, some being Section 8 families.  The thought was to provide this to single mothers so they could get their children out of detrimental environments. 

As we progressed with the program, it became evident that many of these families would like to have the privilege of home ownership.  Many have expressed a desire to do what is necessary to meet this goal.  With this thought in mind,  CAPA  approached Rual Development (USDA) to see if there were programs available to make home ownership a reality.  We formed Spring House Community Development to administrate this family need. The USDA Section 23 Mutual Self Help Program was selected as an ideal instrument to enable us to meet our goal of providing decent and affordable housing thorough home ownership