Families experiencing high levels of stress can face an increased risk of child abuse and neglect—and research showed that families in Southwest Ohio were among the most at risk in the state.

The Southwest Ohio Regional Prevention Council needed a campaign that could address a serious issue without adding more fear, shame, or judgment to families already under pressure.

Our approach was to focus instead on something more powerful: the role all of us can play in creating a better future for children.

My role
Concept development · messaging strategy · copywriting

Deliverables
Campaign concept · messaging platform · brand video · print · digital · social · presentation materials

---

The challenge

Talk about risk without making families feel like the problem.

Child-abuse prevention is inherently difficult territory.

The people who most need support may already be dealing with poverty, substance use, health concerns, or other sources of significant stress. A campaign built around frightening statistics or judgment could make it even harder to ask for help.

We needed to acknowledge the seriousness of the issue while creating a message that felt encouraging rather than accusatory.

And the campaign couldn’t speak only to parents. It also needed to show friends, neighbors, professionals, and other community members that protecting children is something we all have the power to influence.

---

Finding the idea

Shift the conversation from prevention to possibility.

Following research and creative development, we created a campaign platform built around a more hopeful way of talking about prevention.

---

The Power to Create a Better Future

Instead of focusing on what could go wrong, the campaign focused on what could go right when families have the support they need.

The idea worked in two directions: encouraging parents experiencing stress while empowering the people around them to step in, offer support, and advocate for families and children.

---

Creating a message for an entire community

Everyone has a role to play.

The campaign was built around the idea that protecting children isn’t solely the responsibility of parents, social workers, or child-welfare organizations.

It’s a community responsibility—and a community opportunity.

The messaging gave us a way to speak both to families who might need support and to the people in a position to provide it, creating a shared sense of agency around a difficult subject.

---

Bringing the idea to life

The campaign extended across print, digital advertising, social media, presentation materials, and video, giving the prevention message a consistent voice wherever audiences encountered it.

Concept + script: Sara Barton

---

The power of a different perspective

Child-abuse prevention will always be a serious subject. But serious doesn’t have to mean frightening.

The Power to Create a Better Future gave the Southwest Ohio Regional Prevention Council a way to talk about prevention through encouragement, shared responsibility, and possibility—supporting parents while reminding an entire community that everyone has a part to play.

The campaign launched in October 2018.