Prevent Child Abuse Vermont
2011 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
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PCAV served 18,176 children, teens and parents, caregivers and educators through direct service and
training. In total, the programs and trainings held in 2011 impacted approximately 37,712 children and
teens.
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In 2011, 2,316 parents and children participated in 67 Circle of Parents Support Groups, Nurturing
Parenting Programs and used the Parents Stress Line.
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Nearly 180 Vermonters volunteered three to five hours per week to lead Circle of Parents Support
Groups and Nurturing Parenting Programs.
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Approximately 1,390 early childcare professionals, parents and educators participated in the following
child sexual abuse trainings: Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development™; Care for Kids: Early Childhood
Sexuality and Abuse Prevention™; Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behavior of Children &
Adolescence; Plugged-In: Technology, the Internet, and Child Safety; Overcoming Barriers to Protecting
Children from Sexual Abuse; and, Act 1/Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse Orientation. During
2011, 140 trainings impacted approximately 23,000 children.
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Child sexual abuse prevention trainings were presented to community partners, including the Vermont
Department for Children and Families social workers, foster and adoptive parents, mental health workers,
mentors, and Guardians Ad Litem reaching an additional 192 individuals, through 26 trainings, impacting
approximately 5,000 children. Trainings included: Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behavior
of Children & Adolescence; Informed Supervision of Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended and the
Therapeutic Caregiver’s Role in Treatment of Juveniles Who Have Abusive Behaviors.
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PCAVs’ technology safety program, “TECHNICOOL” reached 4,448 children grades 4-8 and 495 adults
through 181 presentations.
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The SAFE-T Program reached 1,798 students in 39 Vermont middle schools and 4,359 adults through 90
trainings.
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More than 2,988 professionals and parents received Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention training in 179
trainings conducted at childcare centers, schools, hospitals, prisons and communities of faith in Vermont,
affecting 9,000 children.
Member Agency of the following United Ways: Green Mountain, Franklin/Grand Isle,
Windham, Chittenden and Rutland. We can be designated through all United Ways
PROGRAMS
Circle of Parents Support Groups
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Circle of Parents Support Groups are ongoing support groups that are co-facilitated by a parent and a
professional. They provide an empowering, supportive environment where participants practice mutual
help for the prevention and treatment of child abuse. Approximately 90% percent of all members are selfreferred. Parents come because they want help and recognize that they need it.
In addition to decreasing risk factors such as parental stress and depression, studies show that Circle of
Parents Support Groups promote protective factors, including better family functioning, emotional
support, and nurturing and attachment. Research has documented that parent support groups stop child
physical abuse faster than any other form of treatment. Emotional abuse decreases in direct proportion to
the length of time a parent remains in the group.
In 2011, 16 Circle of Parents Support Groups took place in the following locations: Barre, Bellows Falls,
Bennington (2), Brattleboro, Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility (South Burlington), Marble Valley
Correctional Facility (Rutland), New Haven, Northwest State Correctional Facility (Swanton), Southeast
State Correctional Facility (Windsor), Tapestry Program (Brattleboro), Rutland, St. Albans, St.
Johnsbury, Swanton, and West Rutland.
These 16 groups served 358 parents with 609 children (a total of 967 people).
Nurturing Parenting Programs
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The Nurturing Parenting Programs are curriculum-based parenting education programs that involve the
whole family. They range in length from 8 to 26 weeks, depending on the particular curriculum. All
Nurturing Parenting Programs focus on family life skills including communication, non-abusive
discipline, how to have family meetings, developing empathy, preventing child sexual abuse, substance
abuse, dealing with anger, etc. In 2011, 76% of participants came voluntarily; most were self-referred, but
many also came at the suggestion of a professional. Approximately 24% of participants were required by
Family Court or DCF to take parenting classes.
During 2011, 51 Nurturing Parenting Programs took place in locations throughout Vermont, serving 424
parents and 683 children (a total of 1107 people).
The programs took place in: Alburg, Barre (3), Bellows Falls, Bennington (5), Brandon (2), Brattleboro
(6), Bristol, Burlington (3), Enosburg, Middlebury (4), Milton, Morrisville, Newport (5), Poultney (2),
Rutland (4), St. Albans (4), St. Johnsbury (2), Vergennes, Williston, Wilmington, and Windsor (2).
Backed by an extensive body of research, a number of national organizations and federal agencies have
supported the Nurturing Parenting Programs as evidenced-based, validated family approaches for the
prevention of child abuse and neglect. Studies have also shown that family members retain the initial
changes they make as a result of taking the Nurturing Parenting Program longer than with any other
family/parent education course.
The Nurturing Parenting Programs are evaluated through the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory-2
(AAPI-2), a scientifically validated instrument that which measures participants’ likelihood for child
abuse or neglect in five constructs that are commonly found in abusive parenting. The constructs are:
inappropriate expectations of children, lack of empathy, belief in corporal punishment, parent-child role
reversal, and oppressing children’s power and independence. Here are the outcomes for programs
completed so far in 2011: Scores for Construct A, Expectations of Children, improved by 18%; there was
a 32% improvement in Construct B, Parental Empathy Toward Children, an extremely positive result;
Scores on Construct C, Belief in the Use of Corporal Punishment, improved by 17%; Reversal of ParentChild Roles, Construct D, showed a 20% improvement; The last construct, Oppression of Children’s
Power and Independence, yielded a 12% improvement. (Note: A change of 5% or more is considered by
social science research standards to be statistically significant.) We are very proud of these results.
Some of our parents take parenting education classes in order to regain custody or visitation after Court
Member Agency of the following United Ways: Green Mountain, Franklin/Grand Isle,
Windham, Chittenden and Rutland. We can be designated through all United Ways
and/or DCF intervention. In 2011, 77 children were reunited with 49 parents as a result, in part, of taking
our parenting education classes, and 91 children were on the way to being reunited with 58 parents. This
is highly significant data. Appropriate reunifications are extremely important to the well-being of children
and to the healthy lives of families. In addition, given the extremely high costs of out-of-home-placements
and the extensive treatment services that are generally necessary in these situations, reunifications
represent a significant cost savings to the state.
Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Training
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Nearly all parents of newborns in Vermont are being informed about how to safely handle stressful times
with infants and the dangers of shaking a baby. Our goal is for all Vermonters to know about Shaken
Baby Syndrome and how to prevent it.
In 2011, 179 Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Trainings were conducted at childcare centers, schools,
hospitals, prisons and churches in Vermont.
2,988 infant and childcare providers, home visitors, middle and high school students, parents, nurses,
parent educators and maternity nurses received training in Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention in 2011.
Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development (NHSD)
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The Nurturing Healthy Sexual Development Training is a new training that helps participants better
understand the sexual development of children and how to respond to children’s sexual behaviors and
questions in ways that promote healthy sexual development. This training also recognizes that a crucial
component of nurturing healthy sexual development is protecting children from sexual abuse.
Participants gain an understanding of the scope of child sexual abuse and the relationship between
healthy sexuality and child sexual abuse prevention. Participants learn to: identify normal sexual
behaviors of young children, respond to young children’s sexual interactions, respond to young
children’s questions about sexuality, and identify and report suspected child sexual abuse.
38 NHSD trainings were completed in 2011.
429 childcare providers, parents, guardian ad litems, foster parents, after-school professionals and DCF
staff were trained in centers throughout Vermont.
Care for Kids: Early Childhood Sexuality and Abuse Prevention
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Care for Kids is an early childhood (3-6 years of age) sexual abuse prevention curriculum used by early
education teachers, childcare providers and parents. Care for Kids develops self-esteem and positive
attitudes toward sexuality and gender, as well as promoting an understanding of body boundaries. The
program involves parents and guardians through workshops and homework assignments, creating a
partnership in prevention between parents and teachers.
19 Care for Kids trainings were completed in 2011.
133 parents and childcare providers teachers, school counselors, school nurses and school administrators
were trained in Care for Kids in centers throughout Vermont.
Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Behavior of Children & Adolescence
(URSBC&A)
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URSBC & A is a training designed to help promote adult understanding of children’s sexual behavior as
well as teach appropriate adult responses in order to intervene early in the development of sexually
abusive patterns. Participants learn to: identify normal sexual behaviors of children, identify abusive
patterns of sexual behaviors in children, increase their knowledge about unhealthy aspects of child
sexuality, and improve their ability to respond to children’s sexual behaviors.
47 URSBC & A trainings were completed in 2011.
406 professionals and parents, including foster parents, were trained in URSBC throughout Vermont.
Member Agency of the following United Ways: Green Mountain, Franklin/Grand Isle,
Windham, Chittenden and Rutland. We can be designated through all United Ways
Informed Supervision of Juveniles who have Sexually Offended
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This 2-hour workshop is designed for professionals and caregivers providing supervision to children
and adolescents who have a history of sexually abusive behavior. Participants explore the cycle of
abuse and learn strategies for intervention at different points in the cycle. A model for safety planning
is introduced and practiced.
3 trainings were completed in 2011.
12 professionals from the Department for Children and Families staff, childcare providers and foster
parents were trained in Vermont.
Plugged-In: Strategies for Protecting our Children Online
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The Plugged-In training helps adults better understand the risks and benefits for technologicallyadvanced children and adolescents. Trainers review the most current information regarding popular
online activities for children and examine how adults can work to keep children safer online.
Workshop participants learn how to: identify the benefits and risks of children’s use of the internet,
computers, cell phones and other handheld devices; review signs that a child or adolescent may be in
trouble online and practice responding in ways that promote healthy communication; create
family/center agreements about computer and internet usage; report suspicious activity.
13 trainings were completed in 2011.
136 parents and professionals, including childcare providers were trained.
Overcoming Barriers to Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse
 This 3-hour interactive training is designed to help child care providers and others overcome difficulties
when making reports to the Department for Children & Families (DCF) regarding suspected child sexual
abuse, and to help adults recognize and respond to boundary violations and pre-offending behaviors
before they result in child sexual abuse. This training includes:
 children’s normal sexual behavior and signs of abuse;
 examples of common boundary violations and pre-offending behaviors;
 skill development addressing when and how to confront pre-offending behavior;
 barriers to reporting and intervening;
 mandated reporting tips and ways of coping with community responses after reports are made;
 discussion about offender attitudes, behaviors and characteristics; and,
 bystander roles and issues.
 This training was developed in 2010 in response to feedback received from past participants regarding
barriers to reporting and the need for skills about how protect children when they are at risk, but no crime
has yet been committed. The first training was given in July.
 28 trainings were completed in 2011.
 307 early childcare educators, guardians ad litems mentors, parents and others were trained.
Act 1/Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse Orientation
 This 2-hour training helps licensed center directors gain an awareness and understanding of the Act 1
legislative mandate related to child sexual abuse prevention. Directors explore ways to use the Vermont
Agency of Humans Service’s approved materials (Commit to Kids) to orient staff on child sexual abuse
prevention and mandated reporting.
 11 trainings were completed in the Fall of 2011.
 158 early childcare providers and licensed day care providers were trained.
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Member Agency of the following United Ways: Green Mountain, Franklin/Grand Isle,
Windham, Chittenden and Rutland. We can be designated through all United Ways
Commit to Kids Staff Training
 In response to requests from Directors at Licensed Centers, PCAV staff began offering Commit to Kids
trainings. The goal is to model how the information can be presented to staff and thereby help prepare
Directors to assume this responsibility, including new staff members and reviews of the material for
existing staff.
 11 trainings were completed in 2011.
 364 staff at Licensed Centers and Head Start organizations received training.
Sexual Abuse Free Environment for Teens (SAFE-T)
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The Sexual Abuse Free Environments for Teens™ (SAFE-T) Program is a sexual abuse prevention
program for middle school communities. The SAFE-T Program consists of a curriculum to be used with
middle school students in the classroom, training for school staff, and a series of parent nights.
The SAFE-T Program’s ten curriculum units are structured around helping youth identify those factors
that put them at risk for being hurt and for hurting others, as well as developing protective factors and
enhancing resilience. The curriculum does both victim and victimizer prevention and provides students
with a safe space to develop the skills in communication, interpersonal relations, and decision making
needed to promote healthy relationships free of sexually abusive attitudes and behaviors.
Parents and guardians play an integral role in the program through adult/teen dialogue assignments as
well as information and education sessions offered throughout the SAFE-T Program. Community
agencies are involved through classroom presentations and students’ community change projects.
The SAFE-T Program also offers schools faculty and staff trainings to orient the entire school staff to
sexual abuse prevention and provide a safe space for them to gather new information, ask questions, and
process scenarios.
The SAFE-T Program is a unique approach to the prevention of sexual abuse and harassment as well as
other forms of school violence. SAFE-T was developed and written by PCAV staff and scientifically
evaluated by Dr.’s Glenda Kaufman-Kantor and David Finkelhor at the Crimes Against Children Center
at the University of New Hampshire, at Durham.
During 2011, the following schools used SAFE-T: Albany Community School (Albany), Alburgh School
(Alburgh), Bakersfield Elementary School (Bakersfield), Berkshire Elementary School (Berkshire), Black
River Middle High School (Ludlow), Blue Mountain Union School (Wells River), Brattleboro Area
Middle School (Brattleboro), Buffalo Mountain School (Hardwick), Cabot School (Cabot), Canaan
School (Canaan), Castleton Village School (Castleton), Charleston Elementary School (Charleston),
Coventry Village School (Coventry), Dummerston School (Dummerston), Essex Middle School (Essex
Junction), Fair Haven Grade School (Fair Haven), Folsom School (South Hero), Georgia Elementary
School (Georgia), Glover Community School (Glover), Grand Isle School (Grand Isle), Guilford Central
School (Guilford), Lamoille Union Middle School (Hyde Park), Main Street Middle School (Montpelier),
Mill River Middle/High School (Clarendon), Montgomery Elementary School (Montgomery), North
Country School (Derby), People’s Academy Middle Level (Morrisville), Proctor Middle/High School
(Proctor), Putney Central School (Putney), Randolph Union High School (Randolph), Riverside Middle
High School (Springfield), Rutland City Middle School (Rutland), Sheldon Elementary School (Sheldon),
St. Johnsbury School (St. Johnsbury), SUCCESS School (Rutland), Troy Elementary School (Troy),
Vergennes Union Middle/High School (Vergennes), Waterford School (Waterford), Williamstown
Middle School (Williamstown).
1,798 students participated in SAFE-T in the 39 Vermont SAFE-T Schools/Programs.
4,359 adults were trained through school faculty and staff trainings, teacher trainings, parent nights, and
training of trainers. Of these 11 were trained as SAFE-T trainers and were equipped to bring the SAFE-T
program to their local school communities.
Member Agency of the following United Ways: Green Mountain, Franklin/Grand Isle,
Windham, Chittenden and Rutland. We can be designated through all United Ways
TECHNICOOL: A Technology Safety Program
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TECHNICOOL was launched in 2008 for children in grades 4-8, their parents, and their educators.
The TECHNICOOL program:
 Encourages safe online behavior by addressing the potential benefits and risks presented by
technology
 Provides adult participants with resources and concrete tools to safeguard the children and
adolescents in their lives
Addresses topics in developmentally appropriate ways
The Comcast Foundation, VT Children’s Trust Foundation, New England Regional Verizon Wireless
Foundation, and VT Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force provide grant support.
In 2011, 74 school communities were visited, resulting in 181 trainings (141 student trainings, 40 adult
trainings). Thirty-three of these communities were new to the TECHNICOOL program.
In 2011, 4,448 students and 495 adults were trained in technology safety through TECHNICOOL.
Vermont Parents’ Home Companion and Resource Directory (VPHC)
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The Vermont Parents’ Home Companion and Resource Directory is a 100+ page guide to child
development (0-18 years of age), including “golden tips” about everyday problems with children and a
directory of child and family serving organizations in Vermont.
All new parents in Vermont receive a copy of the Vermont Parents’ Home Companion and Resource
Directory. The VPHC is distributed through hospital maternity units, midwives, adoption agencies and
home visitors.
The VPHC is currently in its 23nd year and to date, over 300,000 copies have been distributed
throughout Vermont, 15,000 in 2011.
The Vermont Parents’ Home Companion and Resource Directory is funded by advertising dollars from
over 100 businesses, private and public agencies, generous individuals, and the John LeClair Foundation.
It is illustrated by five Vermont artists who donated their original works to the project.
Parents Stress Line 1-800-CHILDREN (1-800-244-5373)
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242 Stress Line calls were received in 2011. The callers were assisted by members of our program staff.
Many calls concerned suspicion of child abuse or neglect. These callers were relatives, friends, neighbors,
and professionals who were assisted with supportive discussion and information about how to report these
matters.
A number of calls were from parents of children and teens who have experienced child abuse themselves
growing up and did not want the cycle of abuse to continue in their families.
Many callers were seeking information, resources or training on the prevention of child sexual abuse,
technology safety, bullying, shaken babies, parenting, etc. They were referred to our programs and/or to
other child and family services.
Member Agency of the following United Ways: Green Mountain, Franklin/Grand Isle,
Windham, Chittenden and Rutland. We can be designated through all United Ways