a. Safe Touches is an evidence-based, 50-minute puppet-based workshop delivered in the classroom by two trained facilitators. 

i. See a sample of the workshop here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWCjscPzEFw  

ii. Empirical findings from the original Safe Touches trial (Pulido et al., 2015) demonstrated that Safe Touches significantly increased students CSA-related knowledge, and gains were greatest among second grade students.  It is for this reason that implementation is limited to second grade students.

b. For this project, Safe Touches may be delivered in two modes:

i. An in-person workshop delivered in the classroom by two facilitators.  It is strongly recommended that the teacher and/or counselor be present in the classroom during the workshop.

ii. Virtually via interactive video conferencing software (e.g., Zoom or Google Classroom) by one facilitator.  The facilitator will be virtual and students can either be at home doing remote learning or in the classroom together.  This delivery mode requires that the school counselor and teacher be present during the workshop. 

c. The project will fund two Safe Touches facilitators and it is expected that the applicant will utilize both in-person and virtual delivery modalities.

d. Applicants will have two academic years to deliver Safe Touches to second grade students in their county.  The academic years included in this project are 2022 – 2023 and 2023 – 2024.  In the initial request, the applicant must describe how they plan to use both of the available delivery modes (e.g., combination of both modes, how they will decide what to use, etc.).

e. In the initial request, the applicant must demonstrate the capacity and a plan to reach a minimum of 2,000 students over the two academic years. 

i. If an applicant cannot reach 2,000 second graders during the project period (e.g., because there are not 2,000 second graders in the geographic area), may still be eligible for this funding if they are able to demonstrate that they will successfully reach 100% of all available second graders over the 2-year period (e.g., letters of support from all school entities in their defined geographic area).

1. It will be important that the applicant demonstrates census numbers of second grade students in their defined geographic area. 

f. Strong initial requests will include a letter of support from school entities.  Applicants are encouraged to reach as many students as possible – exceeding 2,000 students when possible.

a. Smart Parents is adapted from the Smart Parents – Safe and Healthy Kids evidence informed curriculum (Guastaferro et al., 2019; 2020; 2021).  The development and piloting of the universal Smart Parents program is underway. 

i. The universal program is designed a standalone, 60- to 90-minute program that teaches parents about healthy sexual development, communicating with children about sexual boundaries, ensuring safety, and obtaining help and resources.

ii. Note, we use the term ‘parent’ to broadly define any adult in a caregiving role for a child under 18.  This could include biological parents, step-parents, grandparents, custodial guardians, foster parents, etc. 

iii. It is anticipated that Smart Parents will be delivered in group settings, but Penn State is currently piloting different delivery options. 

b. Smart Parents will be available for delivery in two modes:

i. As an in-person workshop 

ii. As a virtual workshop using interactive video conferencing (IVC) software (e.g., Zoom or Google Classroom).

c. The number of facilitators will be dependent upon group size (1 facilitator for groups under 10 participants; 2 facilitators for groups 10-25 participants). 

d. Successful applicants will describe a plan to implement the parent-focused component alongside the school-based program (i.e., offered to parents of children participating in the Safe Touches workshop) as well as a plan to deliver it to the greater parenting community (i.e., any parent of a child under 18).  An applicant must discuss how they will plan to reach at least 200 parents during the second year of the project.  

e. The applicant will be expected to describe their plan to disseminate the program. A successful applicant will offer multiple trainings each month.  For example, an applicant may describe a multi-tiered recruitment strategy and a plan for scheduling at least one program for parents at the schools participating in Safe Touches and one community-based program hosted for general parents at a community-space (e.g., library).

a. The applicant could use the program evaluation surveys to provide information back to school-entities in aggregate.  These data may also be beneficial for demonstrating success for future funding opportunities.