Description and Preliminary Evaluation of the Child Abuse School Liaison Program: A Secondary Prevention Program for School Personnel

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article provides a description and preliminary evaluation of the Child Abuse School Liaison (CASL) program, which was designed to target the secondary prevention of child abuse via education of teachers and school personnel. The CASL program provides workshop training and liaison consultation services to increase knowledge of mandated reporting laws and to improve educators' abilities to identify and respond effectively to suspicion or disclosure of abuse. Preliminary evaluation results indicate that participants were highly satisfied with the training and evidenced significant increases in knowledge regarding child maltreatment and mandated reporting laws. Ongoing evaluation efforts and future directions for research are discussed.