The links between child maltreatment and potential future youth violence are well documented. Exposure to maltreatment and other forms of violence during childhood is associated with risk factors and risk-taking behaviours later in life such as violent victimization and the perpetration of violence, amongst other.Targeted and effective child protection interventions can thus prevent a broad range of adverse physical and mental health outcomes.

Interventions are generally classified into three tiers in terms of their best practice reliability, namely effective, promising or unclear.  The purpose of generating evidence for is so that it can be used for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.  In contemplating the role of data and evidence in youth violence prevention the discussion on what is considered to be acceptable “data” and “evidence” should however be reflected on.

The South African government identified the need for a more systematic approach to child abuse, neglect and exploitation (CANE) data and recognized the value of introducing a comprehensive child protection surveillance system (CCPSS). The CCPSS was conceptualized as comprising of both a passive surveillance system (mandatory Child Protection Register - CPR) as well as an active sentinel surveillance study (National Study on the dynamics and incidence of CANE). The passive and active surveillance components of the CCPSS work together as complementary elements in the CCPSS. 

The national study will provide provincial and national estimates on CANE.  The paper outlines the methodological framework for the CCPSS and the value and role the availability of these estimates can play in youth violence prevention.  It is outlined how the combined implementation of these two approaches to data collection address some of the identified shortcomings of the CPR. Finally, the approach to knowledge translation and transfer is briefly outlined as the bridge between research and evidence.