Challenges and Successes in Scaling Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Efforts in Diverse Elementary Schools

Since Vermont began implementing extensive statewide child sexual abuse prevention programs in 1990, they have seen a 76% reduction in children who sexually harm other children and a drop of 61% in statewide reports of child sexual abuse. The Healthy Relationships Project (HRP), developed by Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, is a primary prevention curriculum for child sexual abuse prevention, including prevention of problematic sexual behavior by children, implemented in 30 U.S. states.

An important question has been, how does a curriculum developed in a predominantly white, rural state scale to other contexts? Dr. Beth Molnar’s research team at Northeastern University has led a mixed-methods rigorous evaluation via school-wide implementation in 15 Washington, DC public and public charter elementary schools in high need wards since 2022. Dr. Molnar will discuss key lessons learned from the evaluation study and implementation, including multifaceted approaches needed for implementation, data collection, and sustainability of CSA primary prevention programs in complex school environments.

Presenter: Beth Molnar, Sc.D.
Presentation Date: Dec. 16, 2025

Learning objectives:

• Apply Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological model as a framework for the primary prevention of child sexual abuse.
• List 3 approaches needed for implementation and sustainability of primary prevention approaches to child sexual abuse in school settings.
• Describe the opportunities and challenges for evaluating child sexual abuse primary prevention strategies in complex school environments.