Tertiary Prevention
These programmes aim at preventing the recurrence of child  maltreatment in families where  incidents have already taken place (Dubowitz, Feigelman, Lane, & Kim, 2009; Jonson-Reid, Kohl, & Drake, 2012). Therefore, tertiary preventive approaches focus on reducing the negative consequences of the abuse, as well as its continuation. Short- and long-term consequences are well documented and include physical, emotional, and  behavioural problems, including risk-taking acts (Dumaret & Tursz, 2011). Physical consequences include head injuries (Preer, Sorrentino, & Newton, 2012; Shein et al., 2012), impaired brain development (Al Odhayani, Watson, & Watson, 2013), and poor physical health across several domains (Norman et al., 2012).
Tertiary preventive approaches include intensive family preservation services, parent mentor programmes, parent support groups, and mental health services for the children and family. Intensive family preservation services are community-based but family-focused interventions aimed at maintaining children’s  safely at home and to avoid family separation (Martens, Family, & Network, 2009). Evaluation of this intervention has been inconclusiove in its findings  (O’Reilly, Wilkes, Luck, & Jackson, 2010). For example, Campbell et al.  (2010) did not find  that intensive family preservation services were  associated with a reduction in repeat children maltreatment incidents. Further development and adaptation of contemporary family-centred approaches maybe required, with combined evaluation, before we understand which aspects of such approaches can be effectively used in future.
Parent mentor programs offer peer training on the consequences of child abuse and how to prevent such incidents. This has been associated with reduction in negative parenting attitudes and rearing, including for parents with multiple problems such as drug abuse. Parent support groups are anonymous groups where parents can learn from mutual experiences how to strengthen their relationship with their children. This forum has also been associated with reduction in child maltreatment practice (Polinsky, Pion-Berlin, Williams, Long, & Wolf, 2010). Finally, provision of mental health services for parents with mental illness can contribute by treating a substantial mediating factor (Nelson, Selph, Bougatsos & Blazina, 2013) Access to mental health assessment and intervention for children who have suffered abuse and who present with mental health problems can improve their psychosocial functioning, and contribute to their resilience-building and self-protection.