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Children's Trust Fund reveals results of child sexual abuse prevention program
By Press Release
Apr 30, 2008 - 11:47:05 AM

(Left to right): East Hartford Police Commander Robert Kenary (Ret.), Cephus Nolan, MSW, social worker and child sexual abuse prevention seminar co-presenter; Dana Daunis, Miss Connecticut 2007; Karen Foley-Schain, executive director, Children's Trust Fund, and Eleanor Lyon, Ph.D., University of Connecticut.

With support from child abuse prevention advocates Dana Daunis, the reigning Miss Connecticut, and Heidi Voight, Miss Connecticut 2006, The Children's Trust Fund recently presented initial results of its community-based child sexual abuse prevention program during a briefing in the Capitol's Old Judiciary Room.

Titled The Stranger You Know…, the program offers free community seminars to parent and civic groups to help adults better understand how sexual predators think and operate, and to make sure their children are not exposed to the circumstances and environments that pedophiles need to molest them.

The presentation featured Eleanor Lyon, Ph.D., principal investigator in the University of Connecticut's evaluation of The Stranger You Know... pilot program at ChildPlan, Inc. of East Hartford. Dr. Lyon's research found that community-wide training on this issue has helped East Hartford's adults, teachers and other caregivers better understand child molesters, feel better prepared to recognize risks to their child's safety, feel more comfortable talking to their children about sexual safety, and be better prepared about what to do if a child says they have been sexually abused.

East Hartford Police Commander Robert Kenary (Ret.) presented an abbreviated version of the Children's Trust Fund's The Stranger You Know… seminars, focusing on the various abuser profiles and the warning signs that parents should heed. Contrary to popular perception, most child abusers are known to the family and the child, often engaging in activities to gain the family's approval and the child's confidence. It's estimated that more than 90 percent of the child sexual abuse cases reported every year represent only 5 to 10 percent of the children who are sexually abused.

The Children's Trust Fund is an independent state agency created by the Connecticut General Assembly to prevent child abuse and neglect, and to establish resources in communities throughout the state that support and strengthen families. Governed by a 16-member interdisciplinary board, the Trust Fund is sustained by federal and state dollars and private funding. Since 1997, the Trust Fund has developed or funded more than 180 family service programs and initiatives statewide. For more information, visit Take5Parenting.com or www.ct.gov/ctf.

Commander Kenary will offer The Stranger You Know… community presentations at the following locations from April 10 to June 31. For details, to schedule your attendance at one of these sessions, or set up a The Stranger You Know…. educational program in your community, contact Laura Beebe at at 860.418.8763 or laura.beebe@ct.gov.

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