Session: Adapting Existing Child Abuse Prevention Materials into a Structured Approach to Achieve an Evidence-Based Program Implementation (Society for Prevention Research 25th Annual Meeting)

Introduction. US child abuse and maltreatment is an alarming problem with 702,000 victims reported to child protective services in 2014 alone. The US has one of the worst records among industrialized nations losing four to seven children every day. Children who experience child abuse and neglect are 9 times more likely to become involved in crimes; 60% more likely to be arrested as juveniles; and 30% more likely to be in violent relationships as teens and adults. Childhelp, the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit advocating for abused and neglected children, partnered with the research team to review, revise and align the Speak Up Be Safe curriculum to initiate the process for consideration as an evidence-based program. The original 1^st through 6^th grade curriculum was expanded to include PreK/K and grades 7 through 12, with the intention of conducting a pilot of the new materials and, subsequently, implementing an efficacy study following the design of a randomized control trial. To accomplish the expansion and revitalization, the collaborative team restructured the curriculum content and format, designed an extensive online facilitator training, and conducted a pilot implementation project to evaluate outcomes. This symposium will include one presentation about each of those three phases followed by a discussant representing Childhelp who will speak to the organizational challenges of launching such a comprehensive undertaking.

Design. The overall process required both process and statistical outcomes designs. The curriculum required an extensive content review and analysis prior to any determination regarding content and format restructuring. The online facilitator training followed a similar process. For both components, a detailed and iterative process included multiple steps and collaborative partner checks. The pilot study was a strict implementation design with no comparison group as it was considered a “trial run” of the new curriculum and training.

 Results. A fully vetted PreK through 12^th grade pilot study was implemented using the new curriculum and training materials plus survey measures of fidelity as well as facilitator and student program outcomes. The findings from the pilot will be presented including trends associated with student and facilitator knowledge acquisition. Conclusions. The restructuring process resulted in age appropriate content at each grade level promoting student self-advocacy to stop and prevent child abuse and bullying. Facilitators found reformatted materials much easier to follow and more efficient to use. They reported positive responses to the scope of content and skills offered in the online training modules and ease of training access.