What is Darkness to Light?
A grassroots national non-profit organization based in Charleston, South Carolina that seeks to protect children from sexual abuse by placing responsibility squarely on adult shoulders. We educate adults to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
Child Advocacy Services is an affiliated partner with Darkness to Light. Check our calendar or the Louisiana page at www.darkness2light.org for ongoing trainings.
Why is this important?
Stewards of Children
is a revolutionary sexual abuse prevention training program that educates adults to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. The program believes and teaches that child safety is an adult's job.Stewards of Children is designed for organizations that serve children and youth. Child Advocacy Services has trained facilitators that can offer this course to your organization for only $10.00 per individual. This fee includes your materials, certificate, and assists CAS in continuing our services for children through our CASA and CAC Programs.
Distinctive features of Stewards of Children
- A comprehensive program that incorporates all of the fundamental mechanics necessary in creating organizational policies and procedures that keep children safe. Ideal for training staff and volunteers on child sexual abuse prevention.
- Includes the “5 Steps to Protecting our Children,” Darkness to Light’s core, evidence-based educational tool for sexual abuse prevention.
- A 2 hour training program that integrates the simple principles of choice, consciousness, and personal power to promote an understanding of the nature and impact of child sexual abuse, and that uses those principles to provide a context for empowered action. The curriculum is direct about holding each adult accountable, and generous in providing powerful, specific support for personal change.
- Video component of curriculum integrates personal stories of sexual abuse survivors, sharing their experiences of trauma and healing with the perspectives of professionals working with various issues of sexual abuse.
- The program is motivational and compelling. It calls participants into personal responsibility for the safety of children, while at the same time appreciates their fears and concerns.
How can it be used?
- By organizations that seek training for staff and volunteers in the prevention of child sexual abuse.
- By organizations that need to respond to insurance requirements regarding child protection.
What is an authorized facilitator?
- Stewards is a 2 hour in person training, led by an authorized facilitator who uses a videotape, interactive workbook, and discussion to train responsible adults to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.
- A facilitator has been educated and equipped by Darkness to Light to deliver the program within a particular organization and the broader community.
- A facilitator has access to all of the Stewards of Children training tools.
Stewards of Children Works!
- Stewards of Children is an evidenced based curriculum with demonstrated results.
- In pre-post evaluations of trainings conducted in 9 different organizations that included faith centers, schools, community-based youth programs, and sports/recreational programs, participants demonstrated a 38% improvement in knowledge about sexual abuse and in attitudes about adult responsibility in the resolution of child sexual abuse after exposure to the Stewards of Childrenprogram. Two months after training, participants showed a 29% increase in behaviors focused on the protection of children from sexual abuse (e.g., they directed more questions about child protection policy to staff of youth-serving organizations; they talked more with children about healthy sexuality and protection from sexual abuse)
- On a scale of 1 to 5 participant ratings on the quality and effectiveness of the program was higher than 4 on all questions, indicating that participants find the curriculum compelling.
