Here at Darkness to Light, we are constantly amazed by the tireless work and effort our facilitators and partners put forth in training their communities in Stewards of Children®. Everyday we hear training success stories and incredible feedback about the prevention efforts happening all around the country and the world!
The CARE House in Dayton, Ohio is a great example of an initiative that has gone over and beyond in their commitment to ending child sexual abuse and we are not the only ones who have noticed! The Center for Healthy Communities (Boonshoft School of Medicine/Wright State University) recently presented the CARE House with its Community Health Promotion Program Award in the established program category for the facilitation of Stewards of Children. CARE House, a children’s advocacy center, has facilitated Stewards of Children since 2004, training more than 9,000 adults to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
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From L to R: Libby Nicholson (CARE House Director), Denise Uhl Jenkins (CARE House Outreach Awareness Specialist and Stewards of Children facilitator) and Katherine L. Cauley, Ph.D. (Center for Healthy Communities Director). |
The Ohio Children’s Trust Fund, one of CARE House’s biggest partners, has awarded more than $200,000 to Dayton Children’s Hospital, the fiscal officer for CARE House since 2008 for the dissemination of Stewards of Children® in Montgomery County. The State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2016 Semiannual Program Report, submitted to the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund in January of this year, indicated participants’ willingness to make behavior changes that will better protect children from sexual abuse following Stewards of Children trainings:
| Statement | Percentage of participants who agree or strongly agree |
| I am now more willing to be mindful of the realities of child sexual abuse | 98.1% |
| I am now more willing to prevent child sexual abuse by reducing & eliminating one-on-one situations | 99.2% |
| I am now more willing to talk openly with children & adults about sexual abuse | 97.0% |
| I am now more willing to respond to signs of child sexual abuse | 96.5% |
| I am now more willing to respond to disclosures, discoveries and suspicions of child sexual abuse | 97.4% |
Paula Sellars, author of Stewards of Children® had this to say of CARE House, “Devotion to children is felt in the day-to-day love and protection we provide them. CARE House is a model of that devotion. Year after year they have reached out to their community and person by person made their world safer for children. I want to especially acknowledge Denise Uhl -Jenkins as our first CARE House facilitator, and heartily thank the CARE House leadership who have supported the Stewards of Children® effort tirelessly. You are champions!”
Congratulations CARE House on a job well done! Your decade-long commitment to Stewards of Children® and preventing child sexual abuse is inspiring. You have made your children safer, and the ripples of your efforts will be felt for generations.
The Center for Healthy Communities is a community-academic partnership committed to improving the health and well-being of the Dayton region, educating its health professionals and serving as a force of change.
Congratulations To Care House for the wonderful work they do! Proud to say I took my facilitators training there from Womanline of Dayton, Inc.