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CAPA presents evidence-based 'Play It Safe' Aaron’s Law curriculum to Beaufort advisory committee; parents and teachers raised questions
Summary
Child Abuse Prevention Association representatives told the Health Advisory Committee that the Play It Safe curriculum has been used since 2015, is state‑vetted and yields measurable outcomes; parents and two teachers have raised questions, and the committee plans further review including inviting a second provider, Hopeful Horizons.
The Beaufort County Health Advisory Committee on Feb. 24, 2025 reviewed Aaron’s Law curriculum materials and heard a presentation from Christina Wilson of the Child Abuse Prevention Association (CAPA) on the Play It Safe program, which CAPA and state reviewers have approved for use in local schools.
Christina Wilson, a CAPA representative, told the committee Play It Safe is an evidence-based abuse-prevention curriculum the organization has delivered in local schools since about 2015. She said CAPA selected Play It Safe after a national review of evidence-based practice and that the program’s structure is age-appropriate and sequential — using animated content for pre-K, live-action video for older elementary grades and progressively more advanced lessons through middle school. Wilson said the curriculum was reviewed by the State Board of Education and appears in a state memo dated Nov. 14, 2024, listing vetted providers and curriculum materials.
Wilson described classroom outcomes tracking and quality-improvement work CAPA uses to measure the program’s effectiveness. She said the agency pretests and posttests students (noting fourth-grade scores dipped in the past and were corrected using a game-based post-test approach), and that site-based reporting and quarterly reviews inform curriculum adjustments. Wilson noted CAPA is nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation and that the agency reports performance measures to maintain accreditation.
The committee heard that CAPA’s school-based outreach focuses on elementary grades and that a separate provider, Hopeful Horizons, covers older students and relationship-oriented lessons. Wilson described routine practice for disclosures: CAPA staff are mandated reporters and work with school counselors or designated school personnel; “that does not relieve our employees of the mandated reporter statute that we fall under as well,” she said.
Committee members said two teachers and two parents had questioned whether the materials matched state guidance; Wilson said CAPA’s materials had been vetted by the state and that the agency had presented lessons to the State Board of Education. Board member Miss Gordon praised CAPA’s work, saying she had been moved to tears during the presentation and thanking the organization for its outreach. Board member Mr. Smith echoed Gordon’s comments and urged broader community education.
Wilson and CAPA staff described program reach and outcomes: they reported roughly 2,500 students served over 40 years of programming in various formats and emphasized that school-based presentation yields disclosures that school-based outreach teams subsequently handle via mandated-reporting and counseling pathways.
Questions from the committee included whether lessons are delivered coed (Wilson said CAPA delivers coed lessons at all ages), whether there is an opt-out for parents (Wilson said she believed state guidance and the attorney general’s guidance indicate there is not an opt-out and that the Legislature intended age-appropriate, universal exposure), and how districts coordinate CAPA’s work with other providers. The committee concluded it would invite Hopeful Horizons to present at a future meeting and review materials relevant to Gavin’s Law and related local concerns.
