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Reducing the Risk of Sexual Abuse in Foster and Adoption Programs

  • Sexual Abuse Awareness Training provides critical working knowledge for program participants (caseworkers, program staff, respite care, adoptive families and more).
  • Our awareness training provides an essential foundation for an effective safety system by providing the necessary information to recognize abuser characteristics and grooming behaviors.

Foster and adoption programs provide services to a group of children who seem to have slipped through the cracks: children who have been abused, abandoned, neglected or whose parents cannot provide proper care for them.  Commonly, children receiving services in foster and adoption programs are at risk for sexual abuse, and many have already experienced the devastating impact of abuse or neglect.  

How can this vulnerable population be protected?
How can we protect program staff members and volunteer from false allegations?
How can we potect children from other sexually aggressive children?

Adoption remains a vital component of the foster care system; adoption strives to provide proper care and loving homes to children removed from natural parents.  However, many in the "adoption family" fail to understand how and when children are at risk of sexual abuse during the adoption process.  Many adopted children have been previously victimized, and are high-risk candidates for re-victimization.  Adoptive parents undergo screening and home studies to assess risk, while respite care providers typically receive little or no scrutiny, easily gaining unsupervised access to the adopted child.

Adoption / Foster initiatives and programs are critical; in many cases, lives depend upon them.  At the same time, a working knowledge of facts pertaining to sexual abuse and sexual abusers is critical.  Programs vary widely and are often regulated by a variety of county, state or even international agencies, which means there is no 'one-size-fits-all' program.  Contact us to learn how Abuse Prevention Systems tools can satisfy or complement regulatory requirements in the creation of effective program policies, as well as effectual screening forms and processes for employees, volunteers and respite care providers.

Click HERE to sign up as an Abuse Prevention Systems member and access the tools which can reduce the risk of child sexual abuse in foster programs and the adoption process.