The Safe Child Program

Students in Preschool through Grade 3

For children/adolescents ages: 3 - 9

The Safe Child Prevention of Child Abuse Program is a free comprehensive curriculum that teaches prevention of sexual, emotional, and physical abuse for children ages 3-11 utilizing a broad base of life skills and specific role-play-based applications. Believing that it is never a good idea to reinvent the wheel, these grade-level programs are provided as a starting point. Each country should adopt the programs to reflect cultural norms and language. Link to Contents here: https://safechild.org/prevention-of-child-abuse-program/

Sherryll Kraizer
Coalition for Children

• https://safechild.org/prevention-of-child-abuse-program/
• Email: Kraizer@safechild.org
• Phone: (303) 809-9001

The overall goals of The Safe Child Program are:

• Teach prevention of child abuse to children in a way that:
• Is positive, non-explicit and non-threatening
• Teaches skills which reduce children's vulnerability
• Raises self-esteem and improves self-reliance
• Is multiracial and multicultural
• Educate teachers, parent and administrators to support prevention of child abuse:
• Teacher training to ensure consistent presentation of the program
• Parental education to enhance understanding and reinforce program goals
• Videotapes to guarantee the accurate introduction of the concepts to the children

The essential components of The Safe Child Program include:

• Teacher training to ensure consistent presentation of the program
• Parental involvement to enhance understanding and support of program goals
• Multi-racial and multi-cultural (parent and child materials are available in English, Spanish, Creole and French)
• Positive, non-explicit approach which respects the needs of children and families
• Program initiation at the preschool level with annual, age-appropriate development of the concepts and skills
• Multi-session instruction, five to ten sessions each year of the program
• Videotapes to guarantee the accurate introduction and modeling of the concepts to the children
• Well-scripted classroom role-playing to develop individual mastery of safety skills
• Emphasis on life skills which have been shown to enable children to utilize prevention skills

Child/Adolescent Services

The Safe Child Program directly provides services to children and addresses the following:

• Inherent vulnerability of young children

Recommended Duration

5–10 sessions per year from age 3–9 delivered in age appropriate groups with material designed specifically for that age group

Homework

Parent seminar and video are available. Parent materials are sent home every day of the program specifically addressing instruction child received that day.

Languages

The Safe Child Program has materials available in the following languages other than English:

• Creole
• French
• Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed in this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

There are no minimum educational requirements for providing the program to children. Providers should review the Teacher Training video and manual that comes with the program before presenting the program.

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

There are no minimum educational requirements for providing the program to children. Providers should review the Teacher Training video and manual that comes with the program before presenting the program.

Manual Information

There is not a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Training Information

There is no training information available for this program.

Pre-Implementation Materials

There are no pre-implementation materials to measure organizational or provider readiness for The Safe Child Program.

Formal Support for Implementation

There is no formal support available for implementation of The Safe Child Program.

Fidelity Measures

There are fidelity tools used in original research including knowledge pretests and posttests. Please contact Dr. Kraizer at kraizer@safechild.org for more information.

Established Psychometrics

There are no established psychometrics for The Safe Child Program.

Fidelity Measures Required

No fidelity measures are required for The Safe Child Program.

Implementation Guides or Manuals

Information on implementation comes with the program.

Implementation Cost

There are no studies of the costs of The Safe Child Program.

Research on How to Implement the Program

Research has not been conducted on how to implement The Safe Child Program.

Child Welfare Outcome: Safety

"What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?"

• Fryer, G. E., Kraizer, S. K., & Mlyoshi, T. (1987). Measuring actual reduction of risk to child abuse: A new approach. Child Abuse & Neglect, 11(2), 173–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(87)90055-X

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Number of participants: 48

  Population:

  • Age — Approximately 4–8 years. Participants were in Grades K–2
  • Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
  • Gender — Not specified
  • Status —

    Participants were students in a Midtown Denver elementary school.

  Location/Institution: Denver, CO

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of the Children Need to Know Personal Safety Training Program [now called The Safe Child Program]. Participants were randomly assigned to Children Need to Know Personal Safety Training Program or a control group. Measures utilized include the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the Harter Perceived Competence Scale for children, the Children Need to Know Knowledge Attitude Test, and a live simulation scenario involving a stranger. Results indicate that that children in the Safe Child group improved on the simulation scenario. Limitations include the small sample size and possible differences across the simulations.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 6 months.

• Fryer, G. E., Kraizer, S. K., & Mlyoshi, T. (1987). Measuring children's retention of skills to resist stranger abduction: Use of the simulation technique. Child Abuse & Neglect, 11(2), 181–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(87)90056-1

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Number of participants: 30

  Population:

  • Age — Approximately 4–8 years. Participants were in Grades K–2
  • Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
  • Gender — Not specified
  • Status —

    Participants were students in a Midtown Denver elementary school.

  Location/Institution: Denver, CO

  Summary:

  The study used a subset of the sample from Fryer et al. (1987). The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of the Children Need to Know Personal Safety Training Program [now called The Safe Child Program]. Participants were randomly assigned to Children Need to Know Personal Safety Training Program or a control group; the control group later received the intervention. Measures utilized include the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the Harter Perceived Competence Scale for children, the Children Need to Know Knowledge Attitude Test, and a live simulation scenario involving a stranger. Results indicate that children originally assigned to the program were successful on the simulation six months after training, and all children in the original control group were successful on the simulation after training. Limitations include that despite retraining, some children were not able to pass the simulation test, differences between the administration of the simulation tests, and the small sample size.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 6 months.

• Kraizer, S. K., Fryer, G. E., & Miller, M. (1987). Programming for preventing sexual abuse and abduction: What does it mean when it works?. Child Welfare, 67(1), 69–78. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ364028

  Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial

  Number of participants: 48

  Population:

  • Age — Approximately 4–8 years. Participants were in Grades K–2
  • Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
  • Gender — Not specified
  • Status —

    Participants were students in a Midtown Denver elementary school.

  Location/Institution: Denver, CO

  Summary:

  The study used a subset of the sample from Fryer et al. (1987). The purpose of the study was to examine effects of the Children Need to Know Personal Safety Training Program [now called The Safe Child Program] Participants were randomly assigned to Children Need to Know Personal Safety Training Program or a control group; the control group later received the intervention. Measures utilized include the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the Harter Perceived Competence Scale for children, the Children Need to Know Knowledge Attitude Test, and a live simulation scenario involving a stranger. Results indicate that children successfully passed the simulation and did not leave with the stranger. Limitations include the small sample size and possible differences across the simulations.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 6 months.

• Kraizer, S., Witte, S. S., & Freyer, G. E. (1989). Child sexual abuse prevention programs: What makes them effective in protecting children?. Children Today, 18(5), 23–27. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8CG00R4

  Type of Study: Pretest–posttest study with a nonequivalent control group (Quasi-experimental)

  Number of participants: 670

  Population:

  • Age — 3–10 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
  • Gender — Not specified
  • Status —

    Participants were students from rural, urban, and suburban schools.

  Location/Institution: Three different states

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of The Safe Child Program. Participants were assigned to either a treatment group that received The Safe Child Program or to a control group. Measures utilized include simulation and role play exercises, as well as one-on-one interviews; psychometrics of the measures were not reported. Results indicate that the children in The Safe Child Program improved on the role play measure after the intervention. Few children reported any fear or anxiety after the program. Limitations include the lack of detail on the study design and methods and the lack of follow-up.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

• Kraizer, S. K. (1986). Rethinking prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, 10(2), 259-261.

• Kraizer, S. (1990). Children in self-care: A new perspective. Child Welfare, 69(6), 571-581.