Child Personal Safety Program

Planning is underway for the Child Personal Safety Program (CPSP) to serve other area schools, and even the older elementary school children at those schools.

Youth Heartline’s CPSP is unique in the Taos community in that the Talking About Touching curriculum we use for pre-school through third grade is supported by 25 years of research about its effectiveness. We know that children learn best in a safe, trusting environment. The agency that created the TAT curriculum, Committee for Children, is heavily invested in assuring that the curriculum and its instructors establish this safety. Though the fact that child abuse exists in Taos is not a popular topic of conversation, nevertheless it is a reality, and one that actually needs to be directly addressed through education and open community dialogue. It is a fact that the more readily a community confronts child abuse, the more such incidents decline in that community. This is true because secrecy and denial create an environment in which abuse can and does flourish. The worst fact about an atmosphere that fosters child abuse—secrecy—is that the abused child is extremely likely to become an abuser himself or herself.

Prevention of abuse is the most effective way to approach this problem, and the most promising in the effort to end abuse altogether. Addressing this important topic when children are very young increases the likelihood of providing a safe environment for them. But in the end, it is the adults around children who are really responsible for provision of a safe and healthy environment for children. It is our responsibility as a community to be able to talk to each other about child abuse and how we can keep children safe. Child Personal Safety Project supports and informs parents, teachers, and other caretakers in this effort. Please do your part to participate in this community dialogue.

Your support of the Child Personal Safety Project is of absolute importance. We thank you for the financial assistance that you can provide because you share our belief that education and discussion of the facts are the path to a community that is safe for children.