Evaluating Required Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education and Awareness Laws

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a preventable public health problem. Prior research has evaluated whether child sexual abuse education and awareness programs increase knowledge and behaviors of both children and adults. However, there is limited research on whether state policies that require such training lead to better outcomes for children. In this study, we evaluate required child sexual abuse education and awareness policies on rates of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect reports and the proportion of these reports that receive an indicated or substantiated determination using NCANDS data. Results show that required education and awareness policies are associated with increases in reports of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and neglect from educators, yet no significant association was observed for the proportion of reports that receive an indicated or substantiated determination. Requiring CSA education and awareness for children or adults leads to more reports of school children to child welfare agencies by educators.