Thrive, formerly Prevent Child Abuse, Inc., was formally established in 1986 for the purpose of developing and coordinating services and programs that prevent child abuse and neglect in our community. Our mission is to encourage healthy family development through community awareness, parent education and support to children and families, thereby reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect.

Thrive believes every child has the right to a life full of hope, safety and opportunity: and that every parent deserves access to respectful and caring services to support them in parenting. Currently, Thrive provides services in three broad areas: Parent Education and Support, School-linked Services, Community Education and Awareness and Technical Assistance. Thrive has two Parent Place locations Bozeman and Belgrade where parents can get support and services all year long.

Since 1986, Thrive has provided educational materials and speakers on many topics around the issues of child abuse and neglect, including “Signs and Symptoms of Child Abuse and Neglect”, “Involving Parents in Children’s Education”, “Sexual Abuse Prevention for Preschoolers” and other current research and materials.

In 1989, Thrive designed and implemented the award-winning Child Advancement Project, an in-school mentoring program available in all elementary, middle and high schools in Bozeman.

In 1994, in partnership with our local school district, we began to provide Parent Liaison services in all elementary and middle schools in the district. Parent Liaisons act as a link between the home and school to ensure strong communication and relationship building that promotes the common goal: successful students.

In 1995, Thrive partnered with other local agencies to provide intensive in-home prevention services to very high-risk families through the “Partnership to Strengthen Families” project.

In 1997, Thrive opened the Bozeman Parent Place Family Resource Center, a comfortable and non-threatening environment with parenting literature and videos, computer and internet access, parenting classes, support groups and play groups available to all parents in our community.

In October 2006, Thrive opened the Belgrade Parent Place Family Resource Center providing the same environment, support groups and classes as the Bozeman center.

Part of Thrive’s strategic plan is to continue to development new programs to meet the needs of children and their families in the Gallatin County. For example, during 2008 we partnered with Zoot, a local business, to provide parenting classes for their employees during the work day. Thrive hopes to replicate this successful delivery of important parenting information in the workplace with other businesses in the community.