Child Safe

What is Keeping Every Child Safe?

Keeping Every Child Safe© is a program for parents and other caregivers of young children that was designed by Brown and Beekman (2017) to prevent abuse and bullying. Based on decades of studies looking at what makes children more likely to be abused or bullied, Keeping Every Child Safe includes evidence-informed strategies to empower and educate parents.

Caregivers attend a series of workshops on child sexual abuse prevention, effective parenting strategies (to counter corporal punishment), and promoting healthy peer relationships. In each workshop, caregivers are taught the facts, prevention strategies, and ways to overcome obstacles to using them. Facilitators use short lectures, powerful discussions, and role-plays to actively learn the strategies.

Following the parent workshops, caregivers bring their children to a second, 45-minute parent-child workshop in which the caregivers practice the strategies with their children.

Keeping Every Child Safe is available both in-person and online, with live support from Dr. Brown and Ms. Beekman. Workshops and materials are available in English and Spanish.

Why do we need Keeping Every Child Safe?

According to national studies (e.g., Finkelhor et al., 2015), before the age of 18:

• 1 in 6 girls and 1 in 20 boys will be sexually abused
• 18% of children will be hurt during discipline by a caregiver
• 10% of children will experience repeated bullying by peers

In turn, the estimated lifetime cost of the medical, child welfare, education, and legal services per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment is $210,000, and the total cost of one year’s worth of maltreatment surpasses $120 billion (Fang, Brown, Florence, & Mercy, 2012; Hillis, Mercy, & Saul, 2017). Student absences due to bullying alone cost school districts close to $2.3 million (Russell, 2017).

In spite of the prevalence and costs of abuse and bullying, almost one quarter of caregivers of young children do not talk to them about body safety and abuse prevention. Existing prevention programs are either too expensive (Olds, 2008), time intensive (Kenny, 2009), or address only one form of violence (Sanders & Pidgeon, 2011).

Looking Ahead

Child Safe now includes a package of workshops and measures that can be implemented in any community setting. Taking a national approach to dissemination allows us to build a network of facilitators trained in preventing abuse and bullying, access socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial diversity, further develop the evidence base for Child Safe, and create a movement toward change in children’s safety.

Keeping Every Child Safe Virtual Registration 2021

Keeping Every Child Safe is a free, online practical training for caregivers of children ages 5, 6, and 7. The workshops are given in both English and Spanish. During one 3-hour session, caregivers learn about effective parenting strategies and prevention of sexual abuse and bullying. In a second 45 minute session, caregivers practice the prevention tools together with their children.

If you choose to participate, you will be assigned to one of two groups. In one group, you will get the workshops after the first set of surveys. The first set of workshops will be Saturday, March 27 and April 10 2021 or Wednesday, March 31 and April 14 2021. In another group, you will get the workshops after the second set of surveys. The second set of workshops will be Saturday, April 24 and May 8 or April 28 and May 12. Each family will be put into a group at random, similar to the flip of a coin. You will receive three assessments over the 5 months, regardless of which group you are in.

To register, please use the following link: https://stjohns.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bCTzwGwseaQFgLr