TPC Journal-Vol 9 Issue 3-FULL

The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 3 207 Professional school counselors also can play an important role in the education of teachers, administrators, and other school staff. The participants in this study discussed how there may be some resistance on behalf of school administrators to implement CSA prevention programs because of fear about the logistical issues that may result from disclosures. Therefore, as also discussed by Sikes (2008), it is important that a protocol is in place for when children disclose sexual abuse. Professional school counselors can assist with the development of this protocol and can educate school administrators and teachers about how to appropriately respond to and report disclosures of CSA. Professional school counselors should clearly define which individuals are mandated to report suspected CSA to CPS and in what timeframe the report must be made. A reporting form could be developed in order to streamline this process (see Sikes, 2008). Additionally, professional school counselors should provide educational resources to teachers and school administrators on how to identify signs of CSA. In response to the taboo placed on discussing CSA, the participants described how their program offers stakeholders a vehicle for openly discussing CSA, as it provides a forum for creating awareness regarding the dangers of sexual abuse. In addition, the participants were proud of the community awareness that the program created, allowing for the prosecution of child sex abusers in the community. CSA prevention should not only include education of children, but also the general public, professionals, and other stakeholders (Wurtele, 2009). Professional school counselors can be an important vehicle for this type of collaboration. The participants all discussed how having social services, the police, and CPS as part of their program helped to provide a safety network for when CSA disclosures were made. According to the NSVRC (2011), “prevention programs designed for children are only one of many components of a successful community effort to prevent CSA. The burden of prevention should also be distributed across community members, organizations, and social structures” (p. 3). Participants also discussed how imperative it is to develop strong community partnerships to work together to help prevent CSA. Therefore, it could be noteworthy for professional school counselors to focus on building these partnerships so that funding and support may be bolstered for such programs to continue or be implemented within schools. The participants also discussed how intervention is often stressed and prevention is overlooked in the treatment of CSA. This could be due to limited scholarly research that provides evidence for the effectiveness of CSA prevention programs (Rudolph & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2018). CSA prevention programs characteristically utilize a risk-reduction approach in which children are educated about sexual abuse and learn the skills necessary to avoid and report abuse (NSVRC, 2011). However, empirical support of these programs is limited (Lynas & Hawkins, 2017; Topping & Baron, 2009), as CSA prevention programs are difficult to measure (Lynas & Hawkins, 2017). In response to the lack of outcome data, the NSVRC has put forth that “additional rigorous evaluations of child sexual abuse prevention programs are needed” (2011, p. 6). Additionally, few follow-up studies have been conducted in order to determine if knowledge from these prevention programs has been retained and, more importantly, whether children can apply this knowledge to real-world scenarios. Professional school counselors can assist with the development and implementation of research and program evaluation studies in order to provide additional evidence in support of CSA prevention programs within the schools. Implementation of research within a school setting is no easy feat, as multiple approvals are necessary in order to ensure research participants are not harmed and that research is conducted in an ethical manner. Therefore, school administrators can be hesitant to approve research conducted within this setting. Professional school counselors can collaborate with administrators and make a strong case for why this type of research is absolutely necessary, so that more evidence-based CSA prevention programs are developed.