Child Sex Abuse Prevention Training | Circles of Safety

Child sex abuse is not inevitable; it is preventable.

Circles of Safety (CoS) is Stop It Now!’s signature training series. Using our research-backed method, these trainings teach adults how to prevent child sexual abuse in youth-serving environments, such as schools, foster care programs, after-school programs, camps, daycares, and homes. Our child sex abuse prevention training takes a variety of forms to best meet adults’ needs and children’s safety. 

For over 30 years, Stop It Now! has provided a skill-based, confidence-raising, and action-planning educational experience using our unique approach. This is not a reactive training about responding to abuse that has already happened; this is an educational session on actively keeping children safe wherever they learn, play and grow.

• Why is child sex abuse prevention training important?
• Learn ways to prevent child sex abuse through Stop It Now!'s Circles of Safety
• Circles of Safety Training Options | Ways to Prevent Child Abuse

Why is child sex abuse prevention training important?

Over 20% of children [1] in the United States experience child sexual abuse, including online abuse. In over 70% of child sexual abuse cases, the child is harmed by another child or teen. [2] The impact of child sexual abuse can be physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral and will often affect victims for their entire lives as they experience higher rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, heart disease, toxic stress and other long-term negative health impacts.

But we can keep children safer! By learning how to decrease risks in children’s lives, while strengthening their relationships and environment, children can grow up free from sexual harm. When parents and youth serving professionals are given information and tools to prevent child abuse, they are better able — and more willing — to speak up and take protective steps.

Learn ways to prevent child sex abuse through Stop It Now’s Circles of Safety

Talking about child sexual abuse is difficult for many people. Circles of Safety trainings, using the most recent data on child sexual abuse prevention, help make it easier, preparing adults to feel confident and prepared to take actions that keep children safe and create protective, healthy, and nurturing environments. Our trainings teach adults how to prevent child abuse by giving them new information, skills to have conversations with other adults about the importance of protective actions, and outlining clear procedures, such as establishing safety plans, that can protect children. Additionally, our courses prevent children, youth, and adults from sexually harming in their communities.

Circles of Safety Training Options | Ways to Prevent Child Abuse

Comprehensive Child Sex Abuse Prevention Trainings

Our Comprehensive Trainings provide professional caregivers and youth-serving organizations with the tools, support, and knowledge to create safer environments for both the children and families they serve, as well as for their staff and programs. From workshops to multi-day courses, our trainings can range from a general community introduction, to child sex abuse prevention, to highly customized and specialized experiences.

Awareness to Action

Awareness to Action (A2A) is a foundational training introducing key child sexual abuse prevention concepts and skills, preparing staff and professional caregivers working with youth and their families to confidently and knowledgably know when to speak up and take actions to address children’s sexual safety and prevent child sexual abuse.

Training of Trainers

With A2A as a prerequisite, our Training of Trainers (ToT) program offers community and youth-serving organizations the training and tools they need to teach their own staff and program stakeholders, bring Circles of Safety to their communities, and prevent child sex abuse.

Creating a Culture of Prevention

This combination of program-wide staff education with an additional day of mentored leadership training supports and guides youth-serving organizations to asses their current practices, policies and procedures to sustain prevention activities, and to identify the next steps necessary to increase safety in the organization and for the people (clients, students, foster children) they serve.

Prevention Workshops

Recognizing that organizations are either dealing with limited time for staff training or are looking for the next level in building their child sexual abuse prevention toolbox, our workshops provide an interactive learning experience focused on specific key steps of safety planning or unique considerations for specific communities, such as camps or faith-based institutions. Browse our list of examples of workshops focused on specific child abuse prevention topics. 

Stop It Now! is happy to develop custom workshops for you and your organization so that you can develop the skills you need most to prevent child sex abuse in your community.

On-Demand Video Trainings

Stop It Now!’s on-demand training videos allow adults who want to create safe environments for children to learn core child sexual abuse prevention lessons through concise, engaging videos.

Circles of Safety: Understanding and Responding to Warning Signs in Children’s Behaviors

This training video introduces information and tools to recognize young children’s and pre-teen’s sexually concerning and problematic behaviors.

Circles of Safety: Understanding the Role of Healthy Sexuality Development and Education in Sexual Abuse Prevention

This training video is for caregivers of children to prepare them to promote healthy sexuality development for children, as a core activity necessary for child sexual abuse prevention.

Live Webinar Series

This free child abuse prevention training resource brings together Now!’s leadership, Helpline Counselors, trainers, and experts in the field of abuse prevention together for thought-provoking and supportive conversations around questions concerned adults have around preventing child abuse.

Register for Upcoming Child Abuse Prevention Classes

Accept your responsibility for youth’s safety by registering for one of the upcoming regularly hosted trainings by Stop It Now!, including Awareness to Action, Training of Trainers, and Live Webinars, and learn how to prevent child sex abuse.

Upcoming Circles of Safety: Awareness to Action Sessions

November 2024

Dates: Monday, 11/18/2024 through Thursday, 11/21/2024; 1:00pm - 4:00pm ET. (4 consecutive days)
Registration: Click Here

Course Agenda & Objectives: Click Here

Cost: $285.00
Continuing Education (CE) Credits Available
Recommended Audience: Professional caregivers, (i.e. foster parents, youth residential staff, youth program support staff, sexual assault and response professionals, child protective service professionals, child and family advocacy professionals, educational professionals) youth-serving organization employees in any role, and anyone interested in preventing child sexual abuse.
Course content level: Beginning level

Presenters: Click here

Upcoming Circles of Safety: Training of Trainers Sessions

December 2024

Dates: Wednesday, 12/11/2024 through Thursday, 12/12/2024; 1:00pm - 5:00pm ET. (2 consecutive days)
Registration: Click here

Cost: $265.00
Recommended Audience: Youth-serving program training professionals
Presenters: Click here

Upcoming Circles of Safety Live Webinars

Coming Soon!

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References

[1] Finkelhor D, Turner H, Colburn D. The prevalence of child sexual abuse with online sexual abuse added. Child Abuse Negl. 2024 Mar;149:106634. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106634. Epub 2024 Jan 15. PMID: 38227986.

[2] Gewirtz-Meydan, A., & Finkelhor, D. (2020). Sexual Abuse and Assault in a Large National Sample of Children and Adolescents. Child Maltreatment, 25(2), 203–214. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559519873975