VITAL PROGRAMS

PREVENTION | INTERVENTION | TREATMENT
The Child Protection Center offers 5 core programs in the area of Child Abuse:
1 - The Child Protection Team (CPT)
2 - Children and Families Supervised Visitation Program (CFSVP)
3 - Sexual Abuse Treatment Program (SATP)
4 - Kid Kindness Program (KKP)
5 - Personal Safety and Community Awareness Program (PSCA)

PREVENTION

CLICK BELOW to find out how to report suspected child abuse -
Child Abuse Reporting Simplified

Personal Safety and Community Awareness Program (PSCA)
Child abuse is a cycle involving both victim and victimizer. To successfully break the cycle of abuse, the Personal Safety & Community Awareness Program includes both victim and offender prevention components. Presentation of developmentally appropriate, culturally diverse workshops that are consistent with current research and that include carefully selected literature, activities and videos are used to stimulate the fullest learning potential for children ages 3 through 18.
The Personal Safety Education Program for Children offers workshops and professional training in Sarasota County free of charge to the following:

• Preschools & Daycare Centers
• Public and Private Schools
• Educators
• Children's and Youth Groups
• Children &Youth Service Agencies
• Parent's Groups
• Child Care Providers
• Health Care Professionals
• Community Organizations
• Anyone who has an interest in the personal safety and well being of children

For more information or to schedule a workshop, call (941) 365-1277 x115.

Victim Prevention
The victim prevention component is designed to help children protect themselves against abuse by giving them, their parents or guardians, and child care providers information on touching safety, recognizing unsafe situations, and identifying people who can help with problems.

Workshops for children focus on developing personal safety attitudes, skills, and behaviors in a fun, non-threatening, interactive way. Topics include personal safety, child abuse prevention, bullying and sexual harassment prevention.

Parent workshops teach parents how to talk to their children about touching safety and provide information on developing family personal safety rules.

Workshops for professionals and other caregivers deal with the dynamics and indicators of child abuse, reporting responsibilities, and effective responses to children in crisis.

Offender Prevention
The offender prevention component is designed to reduce impulsive and aggressive behavior in children, teach pro-social skills and build self-esteem. Such skills decrease the likelihood that children will engage in abusive behavior toward others.

One time professional workshops train teachers and childcare providers to implement the program with their students.

Curriculum kits for preschool/kindergarten, grades 1-3, 4-5, and grades 6-8 are available for loan to adult facilitators who have completed the professional workshop to assist in the implementation of the program.

FOR PARENTS
How to talk to children about Personal Safety without scaring them
1. Talk to your child about personal safety when you talk about other types of safety.

You can say, "Just as fire safety rules keep you safe around fire, and bicycle safety rules keep you safe on your bike, personal safety rules help keep you safe around other people."

2. Repeat simple personal safety guidelines often:

• Your body belongs to you and you decide who touches your body and how you get touched.
• The touching rule - (For young children). No one should touch your private body parts except to keep you clean and healthy. (For older children) No one has the right to touch your private body parts except for health reasons.
• Your private body parts are the parts of your body covered by your bathing suit or underwear.
• If someone breaks the touching rule you can say "No, get away," and tell a grown-up.
• Never keep secrets about touching.
• It's never your fault if somebody breaks the touching rule with you.
• Personal safety rules apply to everyone, all the time!

3. Establish your own set of family personal safety rules.

You can say "NO" to anyone who breaks one of our family safety rules. I will back you up!
You can ride in a car with _____or_____, but not with anyone else without asking first.
Do not let others know if you are home alone.

4. Play "What if" / "What would you do?" games to practice decision making.

• What if you are playing (even if it is someplace you aren't supposed to play) and a man or woman tries to make you get into their car?
• What if you and I get separated at a shopping mall?
• What if someone we know really well (give examples such as the babysitter, cousin or friend) touches you in a confusing way and asks you to keep it a secret? Practice naming several trusted adults your child can tell when they need help.
• What if another person offers you money (or something you really want) if you will break one of the family safety rules?

5. Help children develop assertiveness skills. Practice responding verbally:

• "I don't want to be tickled!"
• "Leave me alone!"
• "I'm not allowed to do that!"
• "NO! Stop that! Don't do that!"

(Non-verbally) Moving or running away, standing tall, shoulders back, looking the other person in the eye, and removing someone else's hand from your body.

INTERVENTION

Child Protection Team (CPT)
Florida Statute 39.303 mandates the existence of Child Protection Teams to provide assistance and consultation to the Dept. of Children & Families and Law Enforcement in cases of suspected child abuse and neglect by a caregiver.  CPT provides a multi-disciplinary approach in the detection of child abuse and neglect. The Team is comprised of the Medical Director, Team Coordinator and Case Coordinators. Program services include: forensic medical evaluations and interviews, case reviews, social histories, referrals and training. These services are also available through the CPT non-caregiver component in cases where abuse is suspected by a stranger, neighbor, friend, juvenile or anyone who is not in a child caretaker role.

SERVICES INCLUDE:

• Forensic Interview: Is a semi-structured, one-on-one interview conducted in a legally sound manner by a Case Coordinator who has received specialized training in this area.
• Specialized Interview: Is a structured interview conducted with a victim or a member of the victim child's family for the purpose of gathering clinical data to assist with the assessment of child maltreatment.
• Multi-Agency Staffing: A multi-disciplinary Team representing many different community agencies meets to assess and develop treatment plans for high-risk cases.
• Psychosocial Assessment: Involves a systematic process of gathering information from which professional conclusions and recommendations regarding issues of possible child maltreatment are formulated.
• Medical Assessments: Medical diagnoses and assessments include obtaining a medical history and conducting a physical examination that could include X-Rays, laboratory tests or other diagnostic procedures, performed by a CPT provider when a physical examination of a child is needed to assess child maltreatment allegations.
• Referrals: Appropriate referrals to community programs are facilitated when service needs are identified.
• Training: Comprehensive training on child abuse issues for professionals is available through CPT.

The Children and Families Supervised Visitation Program (CFSVP)
This program provides trained volunteer facilitators to supervise and monitor court-ordered contact between parents and children. The supervision may be ordered for many reasons, including problems with divorce, domestic violence, abuse or neglect or simply an unusual period of time in which the child has not seen the parent and needs to become re-accustomed to the contact.  Supervised visitation means the children and noncustodial parents have the opportunity to maintain a relationship in a safe environment while the family strives for reunification. 

 TREATMENT

The Sexual Abuse Treatment Program (SATP)
This is a therapeutic program for children and families who have reported and documented sexual abuse. The program provides a support system for non-offending parents and children committed to healing the wounds of sexual abuse. All treatment is provided by trained therapists in age appropriate groups and supplemental therapies. Families are referred by the Child Protection Team and by community agencies. Individuals and other professionals may make direct referrals.

Victims can become survivors. Effective intervention can heal the wounds of sexual abuse.
Sally*, a 12-year old, sexually abused by her father since 8:
"But if he loves me, why did he do things that made me feel strange and ashamed? I thought that somehow I brought it all on."

Johnny*, now 9, sexually molested by his step-father for two years:
"It was really hard for me to tell. I was afraid of what everyone would think about me. I know it was not my fault."

An abused child learns to experience the world as threatening; he learns to always give what is desired in order to receive love.

The Kid Kindness Program (KKP)
This program takes proactive measures to reduce the growth of sexual abuse by equipping youth with healthy living skills and correcting their misbehavior. Comprehensive assessment and therapy are provided for those youth in our community who have displayed sexual misconduct. As a preventive component, services are also provided to youth at risk to offend. All treatment is provided by qualified therapists whose credentials meet the State of Florida standards for treatment of sexual offenders.