PCAR’s Vision of Hope Fund Awards $50K Grant to University
HARRISBURG—The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape’s Vision of Hope Fund has granted Portland State University professor Keith Kaufman $50K for the second year in a row, to support his research and evaluation of a pilot project to reduce instances of child sexual abuse at youth-serving organizations.
PCAR provided $50K to Kaufman through the Vision of Hope Fund to launch the pilot project in collaboration with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and its affiliates in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Portland in 2011.
The second year of funding will be used to test the effectiveness of the Situational Prevention Approach—a systematic process developed to reduce opportunities for people to sexually abuse children—when clubs apply the model.
The Situational Prevention Approach was designed specifically for youth-serving organizations to better protect the children they serve by helping organizations identify risk factors and strengthen policies, procedures and the physical environment.
Sixteen clubs across Florida, Oregon, Indiana, & New Jersey will participate in this examination of the approach's prevention impact. The second year of funding will also support the development of a Situational Prevention Approach training model for rape crisis staff across the country who are in position to apply it with the many community organizations with whom they consult.
“The Situational Prevention Approach puts powerful tools in the hands of community organizations,” Kaufman said. “It guides them through the identification of risks that relate specifically to their particular concerns and encourages them to develop prevention and risk reduction strategies.”
In the first year of this project, Kaufman worked with the pilot clubs in Pennsylvania and Oregon to tailor the prevention approach to the culture of the Boys & Girls Club affiliates.
“The Situational Prevention Approach has the potential to positively affect the lives of thousands of children across the country,” PCAR CEO Delilah Rumburg said. “The goal of the Vision of Hope Fund has always been to provide support to projects and research that can prevent child sexual abuse. Dr. Kaufman’s project is a perfect example of the impact the fund can have on our nation’s children.”
A guide to implement the approach will be distributed to more than 4,000 Boys and Girls Clubs across the U.S. For more information on the Vision of Hope Fund, visit www.visionofhopefund.org.
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape is the oldest state anti-sexual violence coalition in the U.S. The organization represents 50 sexual assault centers that serve the state’s 67 counties. Each year these centers provide confidential services, at no charge, to more than 30,000 men, women and children affected by sexual abuse.