School District A "Partner in Prevention" of Child Sexual Abuse

The School District of Pickens County has achieved “Partner in Prevention,” a nationally-recognized public standard to end child sexual abuse (CSA).

The designation was awarded for the school district’s commitment to protecting children by training over 90-percent of its staff on how to prevent, recognize the signs, and react responsibly to CSA.

The training and designation award is provided by Charleston, SC-based Darkness to Light (D2L). D2L has championed the movement to end CSA since its founding in 2000 and now has education programs in 49 states and 15 foreign countries.

“Partner in Prevention” was created as a national standard to help parents and caregivers recognize organizations who take CSA prevention seriously by implementing policy and training staff.

“In our roles in the education profession, we are entrusted by parents each day not only to educate their children but to be advocates for them,” said Dr. Stephanie Lackey, Executive Director of Human Resources for the school district. “The Darkness to Light training allows us to equip all of our employees--including our food service staff and custodians, alongside our teachers and principals--with the tools to protect our students from child sexual abuse. Our (SDPC) primary focus is to be about what is best for our students.”

D2L’s training curriculum points out that CSA is pervasive in a society where it is repressed and not discussed. Thousands of organizations across the U.S. and Canada are now seeking out a dialogue for prevention and they are sending parents and the community a message with the Partner in Prevention distinction.

“The administration of SDPC believes that D2L training has a two-fold purpose. It equips the employees with tools to help guard our students, and it puts potential predators on notice that we take this matter seriously,” Lackey said.

Crime and behavioral studies have long cited CSA for its devastating impact on society.

Statistics are startling, according to the Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse & Neglect:
• 95% of abuse is by someone the child knows and trusts.
• 73% of children don’t tell anyone until well after the abuse has occurred, if they tell at all.
• Statistically, approximately 500,000 babies born in the U.S. each year will be sexually abused before they reach age 18.
• In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse.
• CSA is linked to a host of social issues including teen pregnancy, psychiatric disorders and substance abuse.
• CSA ranks second to murder as the most expensive victim crime in the U.S., where costs exceed $35 billion annually.