Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children
Primary Presenter Brief Bio
Presenter's biography has not been provided.
Type of Presentation
Regular Session
Location
Room 2903
Topic Category
Strand 2: Nurturing Healthy Children
Targeted Audience
Family Child Care
Brief Session Description
Stewards of Children is an evidence-informed program that teaches adults how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. Participants will gain knowledge through two video segments and take part in large group discussions while obtaining new skills on the prevention of child sexual abuse.
Start Date
23-1-2016 8:15 AM
End Date
23-1-2016 10:15 AM
Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children
Room 2903
Stewards of Children is an evidence-informed program that teaches adults how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. Participants will gain knowledge through two video segments and take part in large group discussions while obtaining new skills on the prevention of child sexual abuse.
Full Session Description
Program Goals/Target Population Stewards of Children is an adult-focused prevention training program that centers on improving the awareness of the prevalence, consequences, and circumstances of child sexual abuse (CSA). The training aims to educate adults (primarily child care professionals) to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to CSA. Stewards of Children was developed by Darkness to Light (D2L), a national non-profit organization that seeks to protect children from sexual abuse.
One of the main goals of Stewards of Children is primary prevention by teaching child care professionals specific strategies to prevent CSA from occurring the first time (for example, placing limits on or carefully structuring and monitoring one-on-one adult and child contact). Another goal of the training program is secondary prevention which involves teaching adults to identify when abuse is occurring and to respond to children appropriately, in order to keep them safe from future abuse and prevent potential subsequent abuse-related problems.
Program Components The program consists of an in-person training format that involves a trained facilitator who presents the curriculum and leads discussions. During the 2-hour training, each participant receives a workbook that contains the full program curriculum. The trained facilitator uses a video, which integrates segments of CSA survivors relating their stories of abuse and recovery, with segments from professionals who have experience and knowledge about the problems related to the occurrence of CSA. The facilitator stops the video at three points and leads discussion about the concepts presented in the different segments.
The program is also available in a web-based format. The web-based version incorporates the workbook and video from the in-person training into an instructional technology system that allows individuals to learn about the concepts from the curriculum in a self-paced format. Content is delivered by text, audio, video, and animation. There are short audio/visual training segments that are supported by the text, as well as video clips of adult survivors describing their CSA experiences. Individuals respond to true-to-life scenarios in order to focus the training on their particular needs or concerns. The responses trigger alterations in the scenario options in order to create a personalized learning experience.
The program builds on “The 5 Steps to Protecting Our Children,” an education tool for CSA prevention also developed by D2L. The program not only trains adults on child protection but also assists organizations in creating individual and organizational policies and procedures in attempts to keep children safe.