Injury Center Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs)

Initial Fiscal Year: 2002
Program: DVP
FOA Number: CE02-124
FOA Title: Collaborative Efforts to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

Purpose

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the availability of fiscal year (FY) 2002 funds for a cooperative agreement program for the project, "Collaborative Efforts to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)". This program addresses the "Healthy People 2010" focus area of Injury and Violence Prevention.

Background

Approximately one million children in the United States annually are identified by child protective services as victims of maltreatment. Additionally, in 1999, over 88,000 substantiated or indicated cases of child sexual abuse were identified by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Child sexual abuse is associated with negative outcomes both in childhood (e.g., anxiety, depression, self-harming behavior, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), verbal and physical aggression, poor academic achievement, and low self-esteem) as well as in adulthood (e.g., anxiety, depression, self-harming behavior, substance abuse, PTSD, and high risk sexual behavior). The goal of preventing child maltreatment requires a comprehensive approach that focuses on all forms of maltreatment including child sexual abuse. Whereas programs to prevent child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect have focused their efforts on preventing perpetration, nearly all child sexual abuse prevention programs have focused on preventing victimization by teaching children personal safety skills. Some have argued that these children-focused programs are predicated on the belief that children can prevent their own sexual abuse. No matter what the basis, the victimization prevention programs are deeply entrenched (i.e. many schools, churches, and social organizations that deal with young children have them) and perpetration/offender based prevention programs are practically nonexistent.

A more comprehensive approach to the issue of child sexual abuse is the introduction of more perpetration/offender based prevention programs to complement the victimization prevention programs already in place. This announcement intends to support projects that utilize already existing infrastructures in order to broaden the prevention efforts. In every state, there are existing organizations whose mission is the prevention of child maltreatment or the prevention of sexual violence among adult women. In addition, there are organizations in the country that focus on the prevention of child sexual abuse perpetration. In the proposed project, the expertise of these agencies will be brought to bear on the issue of moving the field toward preventing perpetration.

The purpose of this program is to create statewide prevention collaboratives to promote the development and implementation of child sexual abuse prevention programs that focus on adult or community responsibility and response in the prevention of perpetration, rather than focusing solely on the prevention of victimization.

For the purposes of this announcement, a "prevention collaborative" includes efforts that are broadly defined and involves a partnership that combines the expertise of child abuse prevention, sexual abuse prevention and public health agencies/organizations.

In addition, the definition of child sexual abuse used for this project comes from the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) Handbook on Child Maltreatment (2nd edition, 2002). The definition is as follows, "Child Sexual abuse involves any sexual activity with a child where consent is not or cannot be given. This includes sexual contact that is accomplished by force or threat of force, regardless of the age of the participants, and all sexual contact between an adult and a child, regardless of whether there is deception or the child understands the sexual nature of the activity. Sexual contact between an older and a younger child also can be abusive if there is a significant disparity in age, development, or size, rendering the younger child incapable of giving informed consent. The sexually abusive acts may include sexual penetration, sexual touching, or non-contact sexual acts such as exposure or voyeurism."

Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with the following performance goal for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC): Reduce the Risk of Child Maltreatment.

Awarded Projects

Project Title: MA Citizens for Children & Youth, Inc. Collaborative Efforts to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
Grant Number: U50/CCU122463-03
Project Period: 9/30/2002 - 9/29/2005

Project Title: Prevent Child Abuse Georgia Collaborative Efforts to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
Grant Number: U50/CCU422462-03
Project Period: 9/30/2002 - 9/29/2005

Project Title: Project Pathfinder, Inc. Collaborative Efforts to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
Grant Number: U50/CCU522495-03
Project Period: 9/30/2002 - 9/29/2005