Kid&TeenSAFE: An Abuse Prevention Program for Youth with Disabilities

This publication was developed by SafePlace: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Survival Center in Austin, Texas. A project of SafePlace's Disability Services ASAP (A Safety Awareness Program), its goal is to encourage community-based programs and schools to join forces in providing comprehensive prevention and intervention services that address the problems of abuse in students' lives.

It has sections on abuse to children and youth with disabilities, the need for school-based programs, Kid&TeenSAFE project history, Kid&TeenSAFE overview, program components, implementation issues, replication issues, and future directions. It includes contact information and references, as well as appendices which provide needs assessment tools, recommended curricula, resources, checklists, evaluations, feedback forms, surveys, order form, fact sheets, and a sample flyer.

It's section on abuse to children and youth with disabilities provides details on the effects of violence and abuse on children, issues exclusive to children with disabilities, risk factors for abuse or exploitation, and incidence using cited statistics. It discusses sexual assault and sexual abuse incidence and risk factors, as well as some sexual abuse prevention and intervention service options including sexuality education.

Its program components section has descriptions of the classroom presentations and strategies for educators including: "Teaching about Feelings, Touches and Words", "teaching No-Go-TELL", "Teaching about Body Parts", "Teaching about Sexual Harassment / Bullying", "Role-play examples", and "Teaching Healthy Sexuality Education". The program is sensitive to all disabilities, serving children with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, autism, Down syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, traumatic brain injury, deaf, blind, visually impaired, behavioral or emotional disorder, and speech impairment.

The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRC) is a key component in a national network of domestic violence resource centers established through the Violence Against Women Act and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This paper is one of several Promising Practices papers that are being produced by the Public Education component of the NRC.

SafePlace: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Survival Center is the primary provider of comprehensive sexual and domestic violence prevention, intervention, education and advocacy services in Austin, Texas.