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​Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Projects

Since 2015, the Children's Advocacy Center Advisory Committee (CACAC) has partnered with the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network (CMSN) at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) to develop and collaborate on two large-scale, research-based prevention programs designed to address child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania.  This partnership is a truly unique collaboration in that the CACAC/PCCD utilizes its portion of Endowment Act (EA, or NCAA/Sandusky penalty) funding to support program implementation, while CMSN utilizes EA funding originally retained by PSU to support program research and technical assistance to the projects.  

The prevention of child sexual abuse (CSA) is complex and requires the effort of multiple sectors in a community.  Over the course of both projects, three programs have been utilized that target three distinct populations that have an important role in the prevention of CSA: (1) adults in the community; (2) second-grade children; and (3) parents.  While the first pilot (The Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative) included all three programs, the second (Project Safe and Smart) included the school-based program and a modification to the original parent component.  The programs are as follows:

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Learn More About CSA Prevention Initiatives

​Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative (2018-2021)
​Project Safe and Smart
​Research & Publications