YU School Partnership - YU Institute

Click here to read the C.A.R.E Research Executive Summary

The Comprehensive Abuse Response Education (CARE) program was designed to effect sustainable and realistic change in Jewish day schools related to child abuse and safety. The mission of CARE is to facilitate systems change in Jewish day schools and to increase child safety and effectively address abuse issues that present in school through awareness, identification, training, consultation and research.  CARE consists of a comprehensive three-pronged approach, including Research, Training and Consultation and Support aimed at addressing the challenges facing schools responding to child abuse.

• CARE Research: To guide our intervention efforts a first of its kind survey was disseminated to assess the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, policies and procedures around child safety and abuse of Jewish Day Schools across North America.  There will be ongoing longitudinal re-evaluation of specific schools, and the population as a whole will serve as a measure for change and success. A primary goal of the research is to inform our interventions within the fields of Jewish education, mental health and community leadership.

• CARE Training: Training for administration, teachers/staff and parents to understand, identify and effectively intervene in situations of abuse that arise in and out of school.  The development of a handbook for faculty and administration in support of training and ongoing reference to improve understanding, identification and intervention of abuse. The information in the handbook is meant to facilitate active implementation of guidelines, policies and procedures for systems change within the school.

• CARE Consultation and Support: In an effort to support sustainable change following training there will be ongoing phone consultation by noted experts in the field, to schools participating in the CARE program.