Prevent Child Abuse Vermont
Our Mission:
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont promotes and supports healthy relationships between children and the people who care for them in order to eliminate child abuse and neglect.
2009 Facts
THE HIGHLIGHTS
• In 2009, 2,292 parents and children were served by Circle of Parents Support Groups, Nurturing
Parenting Programs and Stress Line Calls.
• More than 200 Vermonters volunteered three to five hours per week to lead
Circle of Parents Support Groups and Nurturing Parenting Programs.
• Approximately 920 early childhood professionals, parents and educators
participated in the Understanding & Responding to Sexual Behavior of
Children (URSBC), Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development™, Care for Kids
trainings, and Plugged In: Technology, the Internet and Child Safety.
• During 2009, 2,381 individuals received Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention
training in 186 trainings conducted at childcare centers, schools, hospitals,
prisons and churches in Vermont, affecting 7,500 children..
• Child Sexual Abuse Prevention trainings were presented to community
partners including the Department for Children & Families social workers,
foster and adoptive parents and the professionals who work with them,
therapists, and school nurses reaching an additional 246 individuals affecting
approximately 2,500 children.
• PCAVs’ technology safety program, “TECHNICOOL” reached 3,415 children
grades 4-8 and 608 adults through 165 presentations.
• The SAFE-T program reached 225 students, their teachers and parents in
nine Vermont Schools.
• PCAV served 9,854 children, teens and adults through our programs.
PROGRAMS
Circle of Parents Support Groups
• Circle of Parents Support Groups are co-facilitated by a parent and a
professional. They provide an empowering, supportive environment where
participants practice mutual help for the prevention and treatment of child
abuse. Eighty-five percent of all members are self-referred. Parents come
because they want help and recognize that they need it.
• Research has documented that parent support groups stop child physical
abuse faster than any other form of treatment. Emotional abuse decreases in
direct proportion to the length of time a parent remains in the group.
• In 2009, 13 Circle of Parents Support Groups took place in the following
locations: Rutland Community, Marble Valley Correctional Facility (Rutland),
Tapestry Program (Brattleboro), Northwest State Correctional Facility
(Swanton), Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility (South Burlington),
Southeast State Correctional Facility (Windsor), Rutland (2), Bennington (2),
Brattleboro, Montpelier, White River Junction andWest Rutland.
• These 13 groups served a total of 937 parents and children.
Nurturing Parenting Programs
• The Nurturing Parenting Programs (NPP) range from 9 to 26 weeks in length. All Nurturing Parenting
Programs focus on family life skills including communication, non-abusive discipline, how to have
family meetings, developing empathy, preventing child sexual abuse, substance abuse, dealing with
anger, etc. Parents and children come to most Nurturing Parenting Programs as a family. Studies have shown that family members retain the changes they have made as a result of taking the Nurturing Parenting Program longer than with any other family/parent education course.
• During 2009, 54 Nurturing Parenting Programs took place in locations throughout Vermont, serving a total of 1,156 parents and children.
• The programs took place in: Barre, Bennington (4), Berlin, Brattleboro (6), Burlington (7), Essex, Milton, Middlebury, Newport (3), Randolph (2), Rutland (7), South Burlington, Springfield (2), South Hero, St. Albans (3), St. Johnsbury (7), Windsor (3) and Winooski.
Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Training
• Nearly all parents of newborns in Vermont are being informed about how to safely handle stressful times with infants and the dangers of shaking a baby. Our goal is for all Vermonters to know about Shaken Baby Syndrome and how to prevent it.
• In 2009, 186 Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Trainings were conducted at childcare centers, schools, hospitals, prisons and churches in Vermont.
• 2,381 infant and childcare providers, home visitors, middle and high school students, parents, nurses, parent educators and maternity nurses received training in Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention in 2009.
Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development (NHSD)
• The Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development Training is a new training that helps participants better understand the sexual development of children and how to respond to children’s sexual behaviors and questions in ways that promote healthy sexual development. This training also recognizes that a crucial component of nurturing healthy sexual development is protecting children from sexual abuse. Participants gain an understanding of the scope of child sexual abuse and the relationship between
healthy sexuality and child sexual abuse prevention. Participants learn to: identify normal sexualbehaviors of young children, respond to young children’s sexual interactions, respond to young children’s questions about sexuality, and identify and report suspected child sexual abuse.
• 64 NHSD trainings were completed in 2009.
• 698 childcare providers, parents, guardian ad litems, foster parents, after-school professionals and DCF staff were trained in centers throughout Vermont.
Care for Kids: Early Childhood Sexuality and Abuse Prevention
• Care for Kids is an early childhood (3-6 years of age) sexual abuse prevention curriculum used by early
education teachers, childcare providers and parents. Care for Kids develops self-esteem and positive attitudes toward sexuality and gender, as well as promoting an understanding of body boundaries. The program involves parents and guardians through workshops and homework assignments, creating a partnership in prevention between parents and teachers.
• 29 Care for Kids trainings were completed in 2009.
• 259 parents and childcare providers were trained in Care for Kids in centers throughout Vermont.
Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behavior of Children (URSBC)
• URSBC is a training designed to help promote adult understanding of children’s sexual behavior as well as teach appropriate adult responses in order to intervene early in the development of sexually abusive patterns. Participants learn to: identify normal sexual behaviors of children, identify abusive patterns of sexual behaviors in children, increase their knowledge about unhealthy aspects of child sexuality, and improve their ability to respond to children’s sexual behaviors.
• 29 URSBC trainings were completed in 2009.
• 324 professionals and parents, including foster parents, were trained in URSBC throughout Vermont.
Informed Supervision of Juveniles who have Sexually Offended
• This 2-hour workshop is designed for professionals and caregivers providing supervision to children and adolescents who have a history of sexually abusive behavior. Participants explore the cycle of abuse and learn strategies for intervention at different points in the cycle. A model for safety planning
is introduced and practiced.
• 3 trainings were completed in 2009.
• 39 professionals from the Department for Children and Families staff, childcare providers and foster parents were trained in Vermont.
Plugged-In: Strategies for Protecting our Children Online
• The Plugged-In training helps adults better understand the risks and benefits for technologically-advanced children and adolescents. Trainers review the most current information regarding popular online activities for children and examine how adults can work to keep children safer online. Workshop participants learn how to: identify the benefits and risks of children’s use of the internet, computers, cell phones and other handheld devices; review signs that a child or adolescent may be in trouble online and practice responding in ways that promote healthy communication; create family/center agreements about computer and internet usage; report suspicious activity.
• 22 trainings were completed in 2009.
• 205 parents and professionals, including childcare providers were trained.
Sexual Abuse Free Environment for Teens (SAFE-T)
• The Sexual Abuse Free Environment for Teens Program™ (SAFE-T™) is a 30-hour classroom based curriculum for middle school students, their parents, teachers and school personnel, which focuses on both victim and victimizer prevention. SAFE-T provides students with a safe space to develop the skills in communica¬tion, interpersonal relations, and decision making needed to promote healthy relationships free of sexually abusive attitudes and behaviors.
• Parents and guardians are involved through adult/teen dialogue assignments as well as information and education sessions offered throughout the SAFE-T Program. Community agencies are involved through classroom presentations and students’ community projects.
• The SAFE-T Program is a unique approach to prevention of sexual harassment and school violence. The program is grounded in the experience of victims, offenders, and educators and was developed and written by PCAV staff and scientifically evaluated by Dr.’s Glenda Kaufman-Kantor and David Finkelho at the Crimes Against Children Center at the University of New Hampshire, at Durham.
• During 2009, the following schools implemented SAFE-T: Folsom Education Center (South Hero), Harwood Union Junior High School (South Duxbury), Charleston Elementary School (West Charleston), Twinfield Union School (Plainfield), The Family Center in St. Albans, Rochester School, Williamstown Middle School (Williamstown) Roxbury Elementary (Roxbury), Cabot School (Cabot) and Waterford Elementary School (Waterford).
Technicool: A Technology Safety Program
• Technicool was launched in 2008 for children in grades 4-8, their parents, and their teachers.
• The Office of Justice and Juvenile Delinquency Program awarded a 3-year grant and the Comcast Foundation awarded money as well for outreach to afterschool programs.
• PCAV collaborates with Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children and the U.S. Attorney General’s Office to provide outreach and special events.
• 165 trainings were completed in 2009.
• 3,415 youth in Vermont schools were trained and 608 adults in these children’s lives were also trained.
Vermont Parents’ Home Companion and Resource Directory (VPHC)
• The Vermont Parents’ Home Companion and Resource Directory is a 100+ page guide to child development (0-18 years of age), including “golden tips” about everyday problems with children and a directory of child and family serving organizations in Vermont.
• All new parents in Vermont receive a copy of the Vermont Parents’ Home Companion and Resource Directory. The VPHC is distributed through hospital maternity units, midwives, adoption agencies and home visitors.
• The VPHC is currently in its 21st year and to date, over 285,000 copies have been distributed throughout Vermont, 15,000 in 2009.
• The Vermont Parents’ Home Companion and Resource Directory is funded by advertising dollars from over 100 businesses, private and public agencies, generous individuals, and the John LeClair Foundation. It is illustrated by five Vermont artists who donated their original works to the project.
Parents Stress Line 1-800-CHILDREN (1-800-244-5373)
• 196 calls were received in 2009 and the callers were helped by members of our program staff, many of them being referred to our programs, and/or to other child and family services.
• Many calls are from parents of children and teens who have experienced child abuse themselves growing up and do not want the cycle of abuse to continue in their families.
• Very serious calls have increased significantly over the past six years from parents of teenagers involved with substance abuse.
