One of the essential cornerstones of SARCC programming is our commitment to child sexual abuse prevention. Each year, SARCC prevention staff provide prevention programming to thousands of children in our communities. Recently, SARCC was awarded a grant from the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) to implement a component of their project, safe and smart program. This project originated as part of the safe and healthy communities pilot project in partnership with Child Maltreatment Solutions Network (CMSN) at Penn State University.
Project safe and smart is currently being evaluated for its effectiveness and ability to educate both children and their parents on child abuse sexual prevention. The project safe and smart program includes two different curricula – one for parent populations, and one for young students.
The program for student students in kindergarten through second grade is called safe touches. According to PCCD: “Developed by the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Safe Touches teaches K-3rd grade students to trust their feelings about inappropriate touches, say no to someone trying to give them a not-safe touch, walk away or remove themselves from the situation, and report inappropriate touching to a trusted adult. Components are taught by an interactive puppet show within the classroom. More information about Safe Touches can be found here.”
These programs use a two facilitator model and puppets to help children understand what sexual abuse is and they’re right to be safe in their bodies. SARCC staff can educate school, staff and personnel to be the second facilitator on this program. We will also be working with Dr. Kate Gustafson to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs in our communities. Next week, we will take a look at the parent component of project, safe and smart. If you’d like to learn more about opportunities for co-training and facilitating this model for a school or community group, please email info@sarccheals.org for more information.
