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Community Education | Protect And Comfort Infants | Parent Helpline | School-Based Personal Safety
School-Based Personal Safety Program
COCA developed the School-Based Personal Safety Program in response to research recommendations, and in an effort to support area schools’ ability to comply with Ohio House Bill 55 and the new Ohio House Bill 276 requirements of providing personal safety and assault prevention instruction in consultation with public or private agencies involved with child abuse prevention or intervention programs, “to each public school child in kindergarten through sixth grade.” These laws also require all elementary school personnel to complete at least four hours of in-service training in violence prevention, substance abuse and the promotion of youth development within two years of starting employment, and then attend training review sessions every five years.
COCA’s on-going program provides a variety of child abuse and peer abuse prevention programs to schools through educational classroom presentations teacher/staff trainings, workshops for parents and to children. Children learn abuse prevention and personal safety strategies and have opportunities to disclose current or previous abuse, bullying and related problems. The program utilizes videos, interactive discussions, role-playing and extension activities for children in grades Pre-K-12. Educational presentations are provided by trained professional COCA staff in individual classroom settings. Following classroom presentations, children are invited to speak individually with COCA staff. Any information children disclose requiring adult intervention is forwarded to the appropriate personnel for intervention and follow-up.
COCA helps schools develop appropriate policies related to child abuse and peer abuse/bullying, and provides consultation services on specific cases upon request. The prevention programs help create safer schools where children don’t fear teasing, bullying or violence, and can be more receptive to learning. Information on animal abuse and Internet safety is also discussed.
Following the classroom presentations, children are invited to talk individually with COCA’s Prevention Specialists to ask questions, or disclose information about their own abuse or other problems requiring adult intervention. School personnel, local authorities and community resources are contacted and utilized to provide any intervention, treatment or support services needed.
Schools are required to develop policies prohibiting bullying and provide training to their students and school personnel about the policies. Unfortunately, like many other mandates, OHB 55 and OHB 276 are both un-funded legislation mandates and present a difficult situation for many schools. As a result, since there has not been careful monitoring, many schools ignore the mandates or provide minimum programming because they simply do not have funding to provide these programs.
Since its inception in 1989, over 175,000 children have been served through 9,000 one-hour classroom presentations in 375 area schools, including public, parochial and private school settings. More than 4,000 school personnel have attended in-service trainings and over 3,600 parents have attended Parent Workshops to learn about their role and responsibilities in preventing abuse. Our goal is to reach 600-1,000 classrooms each year.
In 2009, almost 14,000 children were served through classroom presentations throughout eight area school districts in 47 different schools. Of the almost 14,000 children served, 949 disclosed information requiring adult intervention. These included: 33 children disclosing previous or current physical abuse; 16 children disclosing previous or current sexual abuse; 6 children disclosing witnessing domestic violence; and 732 children disclosing previous or current bullying incidents. These disclosures included 20 reports made to county Children’s Services for follow-up.
2009 Program Impact Results
- 89% of the 2,747 children who voluntarily talked to COCA Staff named 3 or more personal safety rules immediately following the classroom presentation.
- 35% of children voluntarily talked to COCA Staff disclosed information requiring further adult intervention immediately following the classroom presentation.
(Results based on 2,747 children)
Of the 949 children who disclosed information to COCA Staff needing further adult intervention:
- 732 children (77%) were related to current, previous or possible peer abuse and bullying
- 16 children (2%) were related to current, previous or possible sexual abuse
- 33 children (3%) were related to current, previous or possible physical abuse
- 6 children (1%) were related to witnessing current, previous or possible domestic violence
- 162 children (17%) were related to current, previous or possible family and personal issues
(Results based on 949 children)
- 138 of school personnel (94%) who completed the Post Test could identify early signs of abuse.
- 130 school personnel (88%) who completed the Post Test demonstrated understanding of Ohio ‘s reporting laws and their legal responsibilities.
- 132 school personnel (90%) who completed the Post Test demonstrated they knew how to report suspected child abuse.
(Results based on 147 school personnel)
For more information or to schedule at your school, please call Jean at 513.936.8009.
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