Social Change Effort Project (SCEP) Assessment Plan

1) How we selected individuals to participate in the assessment:

Our group is researching the reasons why parents and caregivers may not be willing to participate in education regarding childhood sexual abuse.  We are distributing surveys as well as holding a focus group to gain information about this topic.  Our target population is parents and caregivers of children between the ages of 2-17.  We are focusing on parents who may not have access to education, or experience barriers to protecting their children, such as low-income, single parents, etc., but we will include any parent or caregiver who wishes to participate.  We chose this population because they are the focus of the project.  We will allow any parents or caregivers who are interested to participate in the surveys and focus group.

2) Recruitment process utilized in inviting individuals to participate in the assessment:       

The recruitment process we are currently planning to use is to present the project to parents personally.  We are currently in contact with the community schools coordinator in the Canyons School District to hopefully distribute surveys and ask for participants in the focus group.  We will ask the contact at the school district what our options are as far as sending surveys out, such as sending them home, attending a parent’s night, etc.  We are also looking into working through the Strengthening Families program at Salt Lake County Youth Services as an option to distribute surveys and hold a focus group.  We will also distribute surveys at Davis Behavioral Health across three different programs, including the Children and Youth Center, Adult Outpatient, and the Addiction Recovery Centers for both men and women. Our options may be having participants complete surveys before, after, or during group, and inviting them to join the focus group.

3) Approximate number of people to include in the assessment:

We plan to have at least 20 parents fill out surveys regarding child sexual abuse prevention education, and at least 6-12 parents participate in a focus group. Our aim is to have both mothers and fathers fill out the surveys, and participate in a focus group, in order to understand different points of view regarding strengths and barriers involved in the issue of parents educating their children about child sexual abuse and prevention. We want to assess parent’s willingness, comfort, and confidence level in talking with their children about this topic.

4) Approximate number of focus groups/interviews/surveys to be conducted:

We plan to distribute at least 20 surveys, and have at least one focus group. Both of these will include parents of children ages 2-17 years old. We are working to obtain permission to work with parents of children who attend Canyons School District, through the community schools program. Our hope is to conduct a focus group with parents from the Canyons School District. This is what Prevent Child Abuse Utah is most interested in, in order to help facilitate implementation of HB 286 by the deadline of the 2016 school year.

5) Time and location of the assessment:

The focus group will take place on a Wednesday evening before the Strengthening Families parent’s group, at Salt Lake County Youth Services. We also hope to conduct a focus group, on a weeknight, in one of the community schools in Canyons School District. We plan to distribute surveys over the next month, at Davis Behavioral Health in Layton, and Salt Lake County Youth Services. We are working to obtain permission to distribute surveys at these agencies, through our contacts, Laurel and Katie, from our group. We are also working to obtain permission to distribute surveys to parents in the Canyons School District.

6) Roles and responsibilities of persons planning and facilitating the assessment, including data collection and analysis plan:

Our group works well together, and everyone will help with all of the parts of the assessment, including writing questions, facilitating the focus group(s), and analyzing data. We all plan to attend and facilitate all focus groups. We each plan to attend all meetings with our contacts from Prevent Child Abuse Utah and Canyons School District. The following assignments indicate who is specifically in charge of each particular part of the assessment process.

• Cameron - Confidentiality statement.
• Ian – Focus group questions.
• Ian/Katie – Survey questions.
• Diana – Contact person for Carrie with Prevent Child Abuse Utah. Contact person for    Michele Vogler, Canyons School District community schools coordinator. Coordinate needs and permission.
• Laurel – Salt Lake County Youth Services data collection and focus group.
• Katie – Davis Behavioral Health data collection.

7) Confidentiality statement:

Focus Group confidentiality statement:

In attending the focus group, the information you share will only be made available to the researchers as well as participants who are within the group. Each participant is required to maintain confidentiality of all information shared within the group, which means that no information discussed within the group can be shared to anyone who is not immediately involved in the focus group. Although this is requisite to all volunteer participants, the researchers cannot guarantee that other participants will maintain the agreed confidentiality. By signing below, you hereby agree to these terms as written above.

Survey confidentiality agreement:

As a participant in this survey, it is guaranteed that all information provided will be kept confidential. It will be used solely for the purposes of gathering data in developing a child abuse prevention program. In addition, all surveys will be kept anonymous to better ensure that confidentiality is kept. By signing below, you state that you understand these terms as written above.

Signature ________________________ Date__________

Assessment Guide

We have planned both a focus group and a survey in order to gain relevant information regarding parent’s feelings about child sexual abuse education. Both will be used to better understand the needs of the community.

For our focus group, we understand the importance of having an agenda to respect the time of the participants, as well as give a focused approach to what we hope to accomplish.  We realize that we need to be flexible and open to the needs and strengths expressed by the group, even if it is not what we had initially considered.  

1) Focus Group Overview:

7:00 pm - Welcome and Introductions - review purpose of the meeting and what we would like to get done within the hour and a half meeting time.  We will also introduce ourselves and our interest in the project.  Prevent Child Abuse Utah will have a representative there as well.  We will then give each member of our focus group the opportunity to introduce themselves and share any qualifications and interest in being a part of the group.

7:15 pm- Brief Presentation- This will be a condensed and interactive presentation that explains some of the ground work that has been laid with the schools and legislature on the education of parents regarding child sexual abuse.  We will also highlight the need for such education by sharing relevant statistics and personal experience.  

7:45 pm- Open forum and discussion of focus questions.  We will then open up discussion on one question at a time, allowing for an approximate ten minutes of discussion for each question.  The participants will have a hard copy of each question on a piece of paper to allow them the option of giving a written response if they feel their opinion would not be well received by the group.  

2) List of questions to be asked:

1. What are the barriers to parents becoming educated, and speaking with their children about sexual abuse?
2. What strengths and resources are present in the school and community that you could call upon for help understanding and combating child sexual abuse?
3. What elements would you like to see included/left out of a training program for parents?

3) Wrap up:

8:25 pm-  Wrap up- Encourage participants who feel they  have more to say to please stay to discuss with a student, or to note their thoughts on the hard copy of the questions.  We will collect the hard copies of questions and ask for participant’s email addresses or physical addresses, so we can send out a synopsis of the focus group to them, and allow for additional feedback.  

Survey Questionnaire Outline: Our survey will consist of twenty questions that each utilize a Likert-scale.

1.       Child sexual abuse is something that I have a concern about happening in my community:

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree                 Strongly Agree

2.       I have adequate information and skills to talk with my child about sexual abuse

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree             Strongly Agree

3.       I would like more information on how to talk to my child about awareness of child sexual abuse and what to do.

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree             Strongly Agree

4.       How comfortable do you feel talking with your child about sexual abuse and awareness?

Not at all           Somewhat       Comfortable               Very comfortable

5.       How often do you talk to your child about child sexual abuse?

Never                Rarely                Sometimes                  Often

6.       Did your own parents or caregivers talk with you about child sexual abuse?

Never                Rarely                Sometimes                  Often

7.       Do you worry that child sexual abuse could happen to your child?

No                       Yes

If Yes, How often are you concerned about this issue?

Never                Rarely                Sometimes                  Often

8.       Have you had a conversation with your child about inappropriate touching?

No                   Yes

           If yes, at What Age?

9.       Does your child know the anatomical names for their genitalia?

No                   I don’t know               Yes

10.   My child knows what to do if someone tries to touch them inappropriately.

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree             Strongly Agree

11.   I am concerned that if I talk with my child about sexual abuse that it will scare them.

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree                 Strongly Agree

12.   I know what signs and symptoms to look for in a child who has experienced child sexual abuse.

Strongly Agree               Disagree           Agree                 Strongly Agree

13.   I feel comfortable talking with my child if they were to disclose that sexual abuse happened to them.

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree                 Strongly Agree

14.   I know what to do if a child were to disclose to me that sexual abuse has happened to them.

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree                 Strongly Agree

15.   I am familiar with agencies in my area that I could turn to if a child were to disclose that sexual abuse has happened to them.

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree                 Strongly Agree

16.   Participating in an educational course on how to talk to my child about child sexual abuse would be helpful for me.

Strongly Disagree          Disagree           Agree                 Strongly Agree

17.   How likely would you be to attend a class offered at your child’s school on child abuse prevention?

Not at all                      Somewhat                   Likely             Very Likely

18.   How likely are you to attend a one night meeting held in a public setting about child abuse and prevention?

Not at all                      Somewhat                   Likely             Very likely

19.   How likely would you be to participate in an online course offered for education on child sexual abuse prevention?

Not at all                      Somewhat                   Likely             Very Likely

20.   How likely are you to read a brochure sent home with your child about child abuse sexual prevention?

Not at all                      Somewhat                   Likely             Very Likely