Mission

The Kempe Center Mission Statement

The Kempe Center will provide and improve direct clinical services, improve clinical service delivery systems, and provide training, education and consultation programs to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect in Colorado and throughout the nation.

The Kempe Foundation Mission Statement

The Kempe Foundation will increase awareness, engage in advocacy and secure and provide resources for the prevention and treatment of child abuse.

We were founded by the doctor who pioneered this field. We never, ever forget his mission,  his vision, and his belief that change is possible.

History

In 1962, Dr. C. Henry Kempe and his colleagues led the identification and recognition of child abuse with their defining paper, The Battered Child Syndrome. This paper was regarded as the single most significant event in creating awareness and exposing the reality of abuse. It gave doctors a way to understand and do something about child abuse and neglect. Dr. Kempe was a tenacious researcher and a relentless advocate, working tirelessly to change policy, laws and perceptions to better protect children. For his efforts, he was nominated for a Nobel Prize. He was our founder, and is always our inspiration. We are proud to carry on his important work. 

The Kempe Center opened in 1972 with one vision: to recognize that children were being abused, the threat was real, and we must do something about it.

A section of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, The Kempe Center has built a reputation as a world leader in the child protection movement by:

• Evaluating and diagnosing children who are suspected victims of abuse and neglect.
• Providing treatment and therapy for abused and neglected children and their families.
• Developing and testing new programs to help children.
• Training professionals such as doctors, teachers and social workers to protect and heal abused children and support good parenting skills.
• Conducting studies that assist in program development and public policy making.

Dr. Kempe also recognized that practitioners and professionals would need the help of the entire community to end child abuse. The Kempe Foundation was established and community leaders, philanthropists and business people were called upon to spearhead fundraising, awareness and advocacy efforts in order to recognize and do something about child abuse and neglect.

The Battered Child Syndrome

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Historical Milestones

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The History of The Kempe Center and Foundation

After 11 prominent years at the Georgia and Walt Imhoff Pavilion, The Kempe Center and Kempe Foundation for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect entered into a new era by moving to the Gary Pavilion at the Children’s Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus in January 2009. The move allowed Kempe to be amongst a renowned medical center of excellence and enhance its collaboration with The Children’s Hospital and work more closely with colleagues at the University of Colorado at Denver.

The Kempe Award