ANALYZING THE EFFECTS OF COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS TO PREVENT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN MINNESOTA

Abstract

This study analyzes the effects of a community and state level effort to prevent CSA. Stop It Now! Minnesota, a CSA prevention initiative, received a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement a multi-component intervention to prevent CSA. Stop It Now! Minnesota's intervention (the independent variable) trained adults to recognize and respond to the warning signs of CSA and provided support and services for potential perpetrators of CSA. The analysis examined three outcomes. Stop It Now! Minnesota documented their efforts to create community/system change (new or modified community programs, policies, and practices). Rates and types of change were analyzed. Second, records of calls from Minnesota to a national Helpline were reviewed. Call volume and type served as a measure of population-level preventative behavior. Third, annual child maltreatment reports were reviewed to examine rates of CSA reports to the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Results showed that Stop It Now! Minnesota facilitated numerous changes to the environment to prevent child sexual abuse. Preventative behavior in the form of Helpline calls increased, and reports of CSA in Minnesota decreased. These results suggest that Stop It Now! Minnesota's intervention was successful in preventing CSA. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.