§ 18-2-41 — Education and Prevention of the Sexual Abuse of Children

(a) Education of children in grades K-12 — Beginning July 1, 2019, children in grades K-12 shall receive body age-appropriate safety information at least once per academic school year, with a preference for four times per academic year. To facilitate this process and develop resources, the state board shall propose a legislative rule for promulgation, in accordance with §29A-3b-1et seq. of this code, by December 31, 2018. The rule shall provide for at least the following:

(1) Developmentally appropriate education and resources;

(2) Social media usage and content;

(3) Implementation of best practices;

(4) Differing county and school sizes, demographics, etc. relating to implementation strategies;

(5) Strategies for dealing with disclosures after student education;

(6) Rules informed by family voice;

(7) Offender dynamics;

(8) Child-on-child scenarios;

(9) Rules on development of supplementary materials, including posting of the child abuse hotline, to embed into the school climate;

(10) Protocols for local crisis response in conjunction with §18-9F-9 of this code.

(b) Training of public school employees upon their employment and then again every three years. The state board shall propose by December 31, 2018 a legislative rule for promulgation in accordance with §29A-3b-1et seq. of this code, and if necessary may promulgate an emergency rule in accordance with said article, for the establishment of standards for training requirements of all public school employees focused on developing skills, knowledge, and capabilities related to preventing child sexual abuse and recognizing and responding to suspected abuse and neglect. The rule shall provide for at least the following:

(1) This required training shall include comprehensive instruction and information to better equip schools and their employees, including how to:

(A) Recognize sexually offending behaviors in adults, questionable behaviors such as boundary violations, and signs in adults that might indicate they pose a sexual risk to children;

(B) Recognize, appropriately respond to, and prevent sexually inappropriate, coercive, or abusive behaviors among children and youth served by schools;

(C) Recognize behaviors and verbal cues that might indicate a child or youth has been a victim of abuse or neglect;

(D) Support the healthy development of children and youth and the building of protective factors to mitigate against their sexual victimization by adults or peers;

(E) Recognize and appropriately respond to student infatuations and flirtations with adults in schools;

(F) Recognize appropriate and inappropriate social media usage by adults and children;

(G) Provide consistent and standard protocols for responding to disclosures of sexual abuse or reports of boundary-violating behaviors by adults or children in a supportive and appropriate manner which meet mandated reporting requirements;

(H) Provide adequate understanding of the age-appropriate, comprehensive, evidence-informed child sexual abuse prevention education which will be offered to their students; and

(I) Reflect the research on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma-informed care.

(2) The rule shall contain provisions to ensure public school employees complete the required training every three years.

(A) The required training shall be at least a cumulative four hours (half day) of instruction on the elements identified in this section.

(B) A skills renewal is required every three years thereafter.

(C) The mode of delivery for the trainings may include in-person or e-learning instruction and may include a series of trainings or modules.

(D) The state board shall provide certificates of satisfactory completion for the employee and the employer documenting the employee completed the required training.

Legislative History

2024 Reg. Sess., HB4830; 2018 Reg. Sess., HB4402