Implementation of a School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program in an Urban Elementary School: Lessons Learned from a Pilot Evaluation Study of the Healthy Relationships Project.

Child-focused, school-based prevention is the most common type of universal prevention of child sexual abuse (CSA) utilized in the United States (U.S.). Implementation of school-wide CSA primary prevention programming in busy urban elementary schools in high-need communities can be complex, made even more so by the sensitive nature of the topic of CSA. The Healthy Relationships Project (HRP), created by Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, consists of manualized, developmentally-appropriate, CSA primary prevention curricula implemented since 1990 in 30 U.S. States. Informed by the Social Ecological Model by Bronfenbrenner, the HRP works across ecological levels with curricula that include training for school staff, six classroom lessons, and caregiver workshops. A rigorous stepped-wedge randomized trial to evaluate schoolwide implementation of the HRP in public and public-charter schools in high-need wards in Washington, DC, among Pre-K through 5th grade students is underway. Prior to the trial's start, the research team evaluated a pilot of the intervention in one public charter school. This pilot study involved mixed-methods research consisting of pre-intervention surveys with staff/faculty (n = 27) and caregivers (n = 27), pre- and post-intervention interviews with staff, faculty and caregivers (n = 4), and a post-intervention focus group with staff/faculty (n = 1 focus group with four participants). Strengths and challenges of implementation, the sensitivity associated with the topic of CSA, and the acceptability and feasibility of engagement of stakeholders were identified as themes. The complexities of implementation of this CSA prevention model in an urban public-charter school, in a high-need neighborhood, will be presented for others implementing similar preventive interventions.