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University of Kentucky study tests school‑focused bystander training and a new screening tool
Summary
A cluster randomized controlled trial in Kentucky middle schools is testing an LMS‑based bystander training, a See It to Stop It screener, and a billboard media campaign to increase staff identification and bystander actions, with early lessons on recruitment and building champions.
A University of Kentucky team described a cluster randomized controlled trial that uses an online training and a specially designed screener to teach middle school staff five bystander actions intended to reduce child trafficking and exploitation.
Dr. Jin Sprang, a professor and executive director of the University of Kentucky Center on Trauma and Children, said the CDC‑funded trial randomized 25 counties to the intervention and 25 to control and has two primary aims: measure the effectiveness of the C Stop Now training delivered through a learning management system and assess the impact of a district‑level media campaign (billboards) on traffic to an informational website.
The intervention includes seven modules that explain trafficking, teach five bystander actions (delegate, directly intervene, document, decide, disrupt), and introduce the See It to Stop It (SITC) screener for school staff. Sprang described a three‑tier risk framework (clear concern, possible concern, emerging concern) tied to graduated responses — including referral to child welfare or the national trafficking hotline and school‑based mental health assessments for higher‑tier concerns. He also described an adjunct SITC‑AI assessment tool for more comprehensive follow up.
Implementation lessons: Sprang said obtaining school permission and keeping communication with busy district leaders was a bottleneck. His team found a ‘‘champions’’ recruitment strategy effective: incentives for staff who completed training and data collection and then referred colleagues, which fostered cluster effects within schools and sustained implementation.
Why it matters: the RCT is testing both staff training and screening approaches with evaluation measures (pre/post knowledge, attitudes, behaviors) to assess whether school‑embedded tools increase identification and bystander responses before harm escalates.
What's next: presenters invited questions about the SITC‑AI and noted they are in late stages of evaluation; panelists recommended discussing the tool further during Q&A.
