Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than six million children are reported as abused or neglected each year. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month so this month is a good time to make sure you're familiar with your duties in regards to preventing and reporting child abuse.

To help remove barriers that affect students' readiness to learn, school personnel must be able to recognize when children are being abused and quickly intervene on their behalf.

What Is Child Abuse?

Child abuse can be more than just bruises and broken bones. Child maltreatment includes physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation, emotional abuse, threat of harm, and abuse of children with disabilities. While physical abuse may be easier to detect, emotional abuse and neglect leave deep, lasting, invisible scars. Research shows that maltreatment can cause:

• Neurological damage.
• Low self concept.
• Depression.
• Anxiety.
• School adjustment problems.
• Poor academic outcomes.

While each state has their own laws and regulations as to reporting incidents of child abuse, in nearly all states all school employees are considered mandatory reporters. This means that if any school staff member has reasonable cause to believe a child is being abused, they must report suspected incidents to one or more of the following: local law enforcement, child protection services, and building or district administrators. In order to protect the child, state statutes require school employees to report when they "have reason to suspect," "have observed," or "know or have a reasonable cause to believe" that a child is abused or neglected. It's important for you, as a school staff member, to know which standard your state applies to you so that you can properly protect children from abuse.

How Vector Solutions Can Help

Online Training

Vector Training (formerly SafeSchools) offers Child Abuse: Identification & Intervention and Child Abuse: Mandatory Reporting courses. We offer state-specific versions of our Child Abuse: Mandatory Reporting course for numerous states.

We also offer a series of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention in Schools microlearning courses, written by Diane Cranley, a national expert. This efficient and affordable training program can help you:

• Prepare school staff to interrupt an attempt at child sexual abuse before it happens.
• Provide a healthy deterrent effect.
• Save students from the lifelong emotional damage of sexual abuse.
• Reduce liability and prevent costly claims, which divert needed funds from educating students.

Recorded Webinars

• Best Practices for Effective Child Sexual Abuse Prevention in Schools
• Child Sexual Abuse: Response Considerations Beyond Mandated Reporting

For more information on our online training courses, or for a free trial of Vector Training, please fill out this Free Trial form.