Pub. 4 2014-2015 Issue 1

25 What type of optional training is provided for students? Carrie: The Department of Hu- man Services and the State Office of Education are working together to collaborate to figure out what curriculum and what standards are in place for when the bill goes into effect next year. Prevent Child Abuse Utah has age-appropriate programs for kids. We start as young as three years old, and teach every age and every grade throughout elementary and secondary school, and even adults. We can provide age-appropriate informa- tion to every participant on their level, using terms that they understand. It’s not something that’s scary to them; it’s something that’s really simple and basic. For example, in talking about sexual abuse, we don’t have to use that exact language. For second grade and younger, we teach simple terms and concepts, such as private parts of your body are covered up by your swimsuit. We will start to define what sexual abuse is for third graders and older, but again, we don’t get into more detail than the simple term of sexual abuse. We teach that it can happen by someone inappropriately touching private parts of the body, and that there’s also non-touching sexual abuse when someone is showing inappropri- ate pictures, talking inappropriately, or sending inappropriate emails or text messages. We also talk about the appropri- ate times that someone might need to touch private parts of the body, such as changing a baby’s diaper, helping someone get potty trained, a check-up at the doctor’s office, and so on. Can parents opt their chil- dren out of training? Jennifer: While that’s absolutely an option allowed by the legislation, one of the reasons why there’s a power in everyone participating in the training is that victims usually tell their friends first. And, correctly trained friends do support reporting of the crime. Also, the training will provide common vocabulary, so if everyone has the same vocabulary, and knows the same concepts, it becomes a safety net. The evidence is that training adults helps prevent abuse and training children helps stop abuse. It’s one of the things to consider: if a parent chooses to opt their child out, how will they make sure that they end up with the same training to help themselves and their friends? Would parents have the same resources to be able to teach their children the same curriculum at home? Jennifer: The intention is for all the materials to be on the website. Who provides the mandat- ed training for educators? Jennifer: Right now, Prevent Child Abuse Utah is the largest provider in the state of Utah. There are a few other entities that provide it as well. When a teacher recog- nizes red flags, does the training provide recourse to act on those red flags? Carrie: The training will detail how and when to report. We’re mandated reporters in the state of Utah, which basically means that anyone 18 or older is required to report SUSPECT- ED abuse. Teachers don’t have to know 100%. If teachers suspect any- thing, they need to turn it over to the investigators to determine the truth. Jennifer: You can imagine how uncomfortable it can be when you suspect that someone is being abused. And, you may be afraid of the reper- cussions if you’re wrong. Yet what happens is that people get so afraid of making a false accusation that they can forget to be most afraid of the child being hurt. It’s so important not to ignore any red flags. Because children are such vulnerable victims we need to focus on the interests of children and leave the rest to skilled investigators. How can charter schools get involved? Jennifer: During this next year until the law goes into effect, the State Board and the Department of Human Services are working together and it is my anticipation there will be several public comment periods for things like the minimum requirements for the trainings, the various types of cur- ricula, etc. We do want public com- ment and especially including charter schools in what they think and how pragmatic some of the expectations are. There is also a time now for char- ters to get ahead of the curve. One of the things I would highly recommend is to create a checklist for compliance. There is already an administrative rule on the books that is R277-515. That’s the statewide expectation for behavior by educators. You may also have a general expectation of how coaches, teachers and other educators are to treat children, but write it down. Create your own code of conduct for your charter school detailing what is appropriate behavior, what you will do if somebody crosses the line, and who is in charge of monitoring compliance. We will start to define what sexual abuse is for third graders and older, but again, we don’t get into more detail than the simple term of sexual abuse. CONTINUED ON PAGE 26