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64 | RIVERSIDE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SOCIAL SERVICES

Community Partners Forum Strives to Educate and Prevent Child Maltreatment M ore than 70 Riverside County public, nonprofit and faith-based partners convened Nov. 1, 2023, for the annual Community Partners Forum in Moreno Valley. The forum attracted 240 participants from various agencies, all of whom came with a focus on preventing the maltreatment of local children and youth.

The forum is an element in Children’s Services Five-year System Improvement Plan, a partnership with the California Department of Social Services and Riverside County Probation Department. The forum actively promotes engagement and community input on best practices, identifies the needs of children and families, and creates a space where ideas can be shared with a broad audience. “Collaboration – that’s the heart of it,” says Administrative Services Manager, Drew Miller, who helped organize the 2023 forum. “We wanted to share stories about abuse prevention success.” In the afternoon keynote session,

seven panelists from agencies including Children’s Services, Probation, Behavioral Health, and Olive Crest brought different perspectives and angles to their mission of protecting children and preventing abuse, Miller says. “They were sharing their proactive approaches to prevention before a situation rises to the point of needing abuse intervention.”