Preschool age children are affected by violence in the media and community, yet few prevention programs target this age group. Safe Start, a violence prevention program, provided an educational curriculum for childcare teachers attending community colleges and parents on-site at childcare centers. A 2-year Evaluation Project studied the effects of Safe Start on childcare environments and children's behaviors. Fifteen childcare centers enrolled in the Project; five centers were randomly selected to participate in Safe Start each year. Sixty-percent of teachers in the experimental centers enrolled in the 9-month community college Safe Start program. Parents voluntarily attended parent classes 6 times per year on Safe Start topics. Outcome measures were observations of childcare environments (ECERS and Caregiver Interaction Scale), teachers perceptions of their work environments (WES), and parent- and teacher-ratings of children's behaviors (prosocial and aggression). Preliminary results showed that intervention and control centers in year one were similar at baseline on outcome measures, but at the end of year one, the Safe Start centers (n=5) showed higher childcare quality (T-statistic(df)=-2(8), p=.09). The teachers who participated in Safe Start felt more positive about their work environment compared to teachers not in Safe Start (T-statistic (df)=-2.32(65), p=.02). The parents whose children attended Safe Start centers rated their children's behaviors as more prosocial (p<.05)and lower in aggression compared to parents whose children attended control centers (p<.05). These findings suggest that violence prevention programs for teachers and parents of preschool age children can be effective in promoting prosocial behavior and may improve childcare environments.
Learning Objectives: After attending this session, the participant will be able to: 1. Identify key components of the Safe Start Violence Prevention Project. 2. Describe the positive changes in the child care environment due to participation in the Safe Start Project. 3. Assess changes in children's behavior as result of parent and teacher participation in a Violence Prevention Project
Keywords: Child Care, Violence Prevention
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Safe Start, a Bay Area Center for Training in Early Childhood Violence Intervention and Counseling
San Francisco State University
SF, CA
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.