The Safe Child Program
About This Program
Target Population: Students in Preschool through Grade 3
For children/adolescents ages: 3 – 9
Program Overview
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/
Program Goals
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
Logic Model
The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for The Safe Child Program.
Essential Components
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
Program Delivery
Child/Adolescent Services
The Safe Child Program directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:
- Inherent vulnerability of young children
Services Involve Family/Support Structures:
This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: Parental participation is not required for children to receive the program, but parental information is provided consistently via video, take home materials and parent seminar in order to help them understand the issues and support their children to utilize the skills being taught
Recommended Duration:
5–10 sessions per year from age 3–9 delivered in age appropriate groups with material designed specifically for that age group
Delivery Setting
This program is typically conducted in a(n):
- School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)
Homework
The Safe Child Program includes a homework component:
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 languages other than English:
Creole, French, Spanish
For information on which materials are available in these languages, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of 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.
Manuals and Training
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 a manual that describes how to deliver this program.
Training Information
There is not training available for this program.
Implementation Information
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 measures for The Safe Child Program as listed below:
There are fidelity tools used in original research including knowledge pretests and posttests. Please contact Dr. Kraizer at kraizer@safechild.org for more information.
Implementation Guides or Manuals
There are implementation guides or manuals for The Safe Child Program as listed below:
Information on implementation comes with the program.
Research on How to Implement the Program
Research has not been conducted on how to implement The Safe Child Program.
Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research
Child Welfare Outcome: Safety
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:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
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:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
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:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
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:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
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.
Additional References
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.
Contact Information
- Sherryll Kraizer, PhD
- Agency/Affiliation: Coalition for Children
- Website: safechild.org/prevention-of-child-abuse-program
- Email: Kraizer@safechild.org
- Phone: (303) 809-9001
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: December 2023
Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: April 2023
Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: April 2015
