The ACT Program to Educate Children in Safe Environments was developed in 2001, in the United States of America, by Brazilian psychologist Julia da Silva, also coordinator of the Violence Prevention Department of the American Psychological Association (APA, Washington, DC, USA). This program has been implemented in several countries, namely: the United States, Brazil, Bosnia, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Japan, Peru, Portugal, Taiwan and Turkey. It is noteworthy that five renowned international institutions recognized the Program as an effective universal prevention educational program aimed at parents of children aged zero to eight years, which are as follows: World Health Organization, California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, National Institute of Justice, National Center for Parents, Family and Community Engagement, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Violence Prevention.
The ACT Program was designed to improve parenting practices through the dissemination of knowledge about: (a) child development and risk and protective factors; (b) effective parenting practices; (c) emotional and behavioral regulation of caregivers; (d) the importance of participation in community efforts to prevent violence. The ACT program has stood out for working on specific violence prevention issues, including the impact of violence and the multiple methods of protecting children from violence in their homes, electronic media and the community.