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CAPA presents Play It Safe under Aaron's Law; committee reviews curriculum, outcomes and delivery
Summary
The Child Abuse Prevention Association (CAPA) presented its Play It Safe curriculum, which it said is state-vetted and evidence-based; presenters described program structure by grade, outcome-tracking and reporting, and how disclosures are handled in schools under mandated-reporter rules.
The Child Abuse Prevention Association (CAPA) presented the Play It Safe curriculum to the Beaufort County Health Advisory Committee on Feb. 24 as the district reviewed materials connected to Aaron's Law.
Christina Wilson, identified in the meeting as representing CAPA, described the organization's history with school-based prevention and said Play It Safe is an evidence-based curriculum that CAPA has taught in Beaufort County schools since about 2015. "Play It Safe is an abuse prevention curriculum that does that," Wilson said, explaining the program's year-to-year, age-appropriate progression from animated videos and basic safety steps in pre-K and kindergarten to relationships and more advanced topics in middle school. She said the program uses live-action videos for older students, pre- and post-testing, and a performance-quality improvement process.
Wilson said CAPA and the other approved provider for Aaron's Law curriculum have had their materials vetted and approved at the state level; she referenced a state memo from Nov. 14, 2024 that lists vetted materials. She described the program's measurement approach and offered a recent example: fourth-grade post-test scores that had declined to roughly 80% were raised to the expected level (Wilson cited a restoration to the program's typical higher outcomes) after CAPA changed how it administered the post-test (introducing a game called "Caperny").
On mandated reporting, CAPA presenters said disclosures or indications of abuse are handled in coordination with school counselors or site personnel and reminded the committee that CAPA employees are mandated reporters under the statute; they said CAPA staff and school staff cooperate to ensure the proper reporting process is followed.
Committee members asked about delivery format (CAPA said it delivers coeducational sessions at all ages and that the provider Hopeful Horizons typically provides different or larger-scale presentations for older students), curriculum currency (CAPA said videos could be updated but that the material remains evidence-based), and parent concerns and opt-out questions. Christina Wilson said she had "not read in the law that there's an opt out" and added that she believed the state attorney general and State Board of Education had issued guidance supporting district-wide exposure to abuse prevention from pre-K through grade 12.
Board members on the call — Miss Gordon and Mister Smith — thanked CAPA and spoke in support of the program. The committee discussed inviting the other approved provider (referred to in the meeting as Hopeful Horizons or Verizon/Hopeful) to a future meeting so committee members could compare approaches.
CAPA said it has tracked school-based outreach outcomes over time, conducts quarterly reviews of trends, and is nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation. CAPA told the committee that it has reached thousands of children locally over several decades (CAPA cited roughly 2,500 children over 40 years in the meeting comments) and that the program is provided to the district at no direct cost; CAPA representatives said the nonprofit funds its educator personnel through grants and fundraising.
No formal committee votes were recorded on Aaron's Law curriculum at the Feb. 24 meeting. Committee members asked CAPA to return or to arrange for the district to host the other approved provider for a future presentation.
