Child Protection Center Promotes Community Awareness and Abuse Prevention Education
February 11, 2020
Child Protection Center Promotes Community Awareness and Abuse Prevention Education- The Personal Safety and Community Awareness Program were Grant Recipients
The Child Protection Center, Inc. (CPC) was selected as a recipient of grants from the William & Harriet Sturdevant Memorial Charitable Trust, the Eluned and Edward Russell Charitable Foundation, the Libertore Fund for Children, Roberta Leventhal Sudakoff Foundation, the Hurlburt Foundation, the Willson-Wood Foundation, the Harold C. & Jacqueline F. Bladel Foundation, and the MSC Foundation. These grants supported The CPC’s Personal Safety and Community Awareness (PSCA) program.
The PSCA program offers a holistic approach to the prevention of child abuse by promoting greater community awareness of the issue. PSCA provides primary abuse prevention education to children from preschool through high school. The program facilitates workshops for their caregivers, childcare professionals, teachers, school board staff and the greater community. The focus is the creation of a future in which children are empowered and educated, adults are aware and equipped, and our community is a safer place for children and families.
PSCA has been providing this essential education since 1992. In 2014, the program began using iPad technology to bring lessons about internet safety & bullying to students, and now offers over 20 different workshops. These grants have supported the education of 46,510 individuals in the last year through 568 workshops in Sarasota County.
Michelle McSwain, the Program Director of PSCA, commented, “By investing in the Personal Safety team, these grants have helped children learn the tools for self-protection and how to disclose any experienced trauma, equip caregivers with the knowledge and ability to incorporate safety practices into their parenting, and professionals gain a greater awareness of their role in preventing abuse and protecting children. Thanks to their partnership, we are creating a safer community, one prevention workshop at a time.”
Since its inception in 1980, The Child Protection Center has grown in service capabilities to become the only DeSoto and Sarasota service provider with a multifaceted approach to the prevention, intervention, and treatment, of child abuse. The four core programs that work towards the mission of The CPC include; Personal Safety and Community Awareness (PSCA), Child Protection Team (CPT), Children and Families Supervised Visitation Program (CFSVP), and Therapy programs. In fiscal year 2019, The CPC provided 71,299 services to individuals.