Child Safety: Parent-Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program: A Grant Proposal

1. Child Safety: Parent-Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program: A Grant Proposal Claudia Perez MSW, may 2013 Cal state university long beach

2. Introduction The purpose of this project is to discuss the problem of child sexual abuse, particularly within the Latino culture and to show the benefits of my grant proposal: Child Safety: Parent-Children Sexual Abuse Prevention Program. Among the child sexual abuse reports, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) (2011) accounted for 20,452 Hispanic victims of child sexual abuse under the age of 17 years old in California. Child abuse figures for Hispanics are nearly two times higher than Whites, approximately four times higher than Blacks, and over twenty times higher than Asians (CDSS, 2011). The goals of this program are: To educate families and children about child sexual abuse, and to implement culturally competent material. Upon successful completion of this program the parents and children should meet the program objectives.

3. Social Work Relevance Social workers’ mission and responsibility is to advocate on behalf of vulnerable populations who are being abused or who are at-risk of being abused (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2008). Social workers and their support of alternative prevention efforts is part of the continuing fight against child sexual abuse. Supporting prevention programs can also allow these programs to show their potential effectiveness in child sexual abuse prevention. Child sexual abuse prevention programs can be a beneficial resource social workers can use for at risk families or for children/families already in treatment.

4. Multicultural Relevance Child sexual abuse does not discriminate between any cultures, age, or sex; several reports have shown a higher number of child sexual abuse cases among the Hispanic population than Whites, Blacks, and Asians (CDSS, 2011; Newcomb et al., 2009). Providing the community with alternative and effective ways of preventing child sexual abuse is acknowledged as a societal need (AACAP, 2012).

5. Methods The program will be designed to serve families of Latino origin. The 6 week curriculum program will accommodate 20 children between the ages of 4 to 6 and their parents or their caregivers. Potential sources to fund the proposed project were found through the use of search engines. Key terms such as “child abuse prevention grants” and “child sexual abuse program grants” were used to locate potential funding sources or information on possible funding sources. A non-profit library was also visited for further guidance on how to locate and access federal and state grants. Weingart Foundation was identified to be the most suitable funding option for this project.

6. Methods • A needs assessment of the target population was made possible through the use of recently published journal articles on child sexual abuse. This material was located through the academic library database of California State University, Long Beach. The search engines Google and Yahoo were also used to access government websites such as the U. S. Department of Human Health and Services and the California Department of Social Services for statistical information on the topic of child sexual abuse. • The approximate amount it will take to launch and support this program is 14,000. This amount will cover the following expenses: • Salaries: 11,000 • Materials: 2,300 • Equipment: In-kind Expenses

7. Grant Proposal The 6 week program is designed to educate parents and children about child anatomy, inappropriate and appropriate touching, predator grooming tactics, promote parent and child communication, and to help prevent child sexual abuse. This program will target Latino families with children 4-6 years old. These families should be of low-income and live in the underserved areas of Los Angeles County. This program is designed to educate Latino families about child sexual abuse in an effort decline the abuse. The host agency, Maternal and Child Health Access, will seek additional funding to sustain the program based on the pilot program’s outcomes.

8. Grant Proposal • The program objectives are: • (1) Educate parents and children about the definitions of child sexual abuse. • (2) Educate parents and children on perpetrator characteristics and coaxing tactics. • (3) Provide parents and children the appropriate language and skills to talk about child anatomy, inappropriate and appropriate touching, and child sexual abuse. • (4) Increase parent-child communication and comfort level with the topic of child sexual abuse. • The facilitators of this group will implement a pre and post-test Likert-type survey to measure the program objectives. The pre-test will measure group members’ knowledge of child sexual abuse before the program. This survey will also establish a base-line measure for post-test comparison. A post-test will be implemented to measure group members’ knowledge of child sexual abuse upon completion of the program. These surveys are designed to be self-administered; however, the children participants will be interviewed. • The surveys will focus on the following: • Child sexual abuse awareness (what it is, perpetrators, and grooming tactics). • Parent-child comfort level with the topic of child sexual abuse. • Parent-child use of child sexual abuse discussions and prevention measures. • Parent-child use of child anatomy identification and discussions.

9. Lessons Learned Culturally specific studies about Latinos were difficult to locate. This made it challenging for the grant writer to document the benefits of developing and implementing culturally-based child sexual abuse prevention programs. Through this process, the grant writer became aware of, and familiar with, foundations, organizations, and charities that offer grant funding. In addition, the grant writer learned about the multiple criteria required and the art of composing a grant application. Through this experience, the writer became knowledgeable and comfortable with the process of grant writing. It is important to highlight that several studies in the literature review of this grant application recognized the need for culturally relevant studies. These studies acknowledged cultural uniqueness in the topic of child sexual abuse and the benefits of exploring cultural relevancy.

10. References American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. (2012). Facts for families: Child sexual abuse. Retrieved from www.aacap.org California Department of Social Services. (2009). Child abuse prevention, intervention, and treatment (CAPIT) program. Retrieved from http://www.childsworld.ca.gov/PG2287.htm National Association of Social Workers. (2008). Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp Newcomb, M. D., Munoz, D. T., & Carmona, J. V. (2009). Child sexual abuse consequences in community samples of Latino and European American adolescents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33, 533-544.