Program Description: Prevention Program has been developed by Jessica Renner, a licensed clinical professional counselor who works with those who have sexually violated and harmed, as well as those who have been impacted by sexual harm. Through her work, she identified that there are many cases which could have had an intervention point in early stages of the behavior of those who have acted out. This program sets up what healthy sexual behaviors look like, the stages for prevention of concerning behaviors can be, and gives intervention steps for unhealthy and problematic sexual behaviors prior to legal involvement being necessary.

This curriculum has been developed to fit the needs of anyone who interacts and works with youth 12+, (adaptations can be made for those working with youth under 12 see appendix). The intention is to give you the information and training you need to be able to identify early signs of unhealthy sexual behaviors, prior to becoming a problem that the system has to address, in either legal or punitive matters. 

What can be done: Context for prevention and early intervention

If you are hoping that non -clinical adults and school staff can assist with prevention and intervention, then I think these last three points should be distilled and more specific, including examples with scripts of do’s and don’ts.  Feel like a conversation is needed about this. 

In Schools/Communities:

The prevention protocol training will walk educators, administrators, and community leaders through how to identify unhealthy or problematic sexual behaviors, and give them a systematic way to attend to these issues within the school and/or community, and help open a conversation with the students' parents/guardians, if and when necessary. This training will give you the basic information about sexualized behaviors in youth, how and when to intervene, and how to do a basic assessment for intervention strategies and referral for consultation or therapy. 

 Within the Field:

The prevention protocol training will help those in the counseling field better understand what are healthy vs. unhealthy or problematic sexual behaviors in youth. It will walk them through how to do a more thorough assessment of the youth’s sexual behaviors and help to identify short term techniques to intervene and determine if a specialized treatment program would be an appropriate referral. 

For policy initiatives: 

Taking a public health model approach to prevent and intervene in CSA, this program is also set up for possible implementation into a system without having to completely change the systems approach. It can be added to any prevention protocol the system has in place or can be utilized as a core foundation of developing a safety and prevention strategy in environments working with youth.