Doylestown Health Offers Child Sexual Abuse Awareness and Prevention Workshops

Trainings educate healthcare workers and community members to spot signs of child sexual abuse and victim grooming.

We are pleased to announce a new training initiative in partnership with the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children, to educate community members, Doylestown Health Associates, and our frontline healthcare professionals in ways to protect children by spotting the signs of child sexual abuse and victim grooming.

Raising Awareness

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), child sexual abuse and neglect are sadly common in the United States. At least one in seven children have experienced child abuse or neglect in the past year alone. About one in four girls and one in 13 boys in the United States experience child sexual abuse. These figures are likely underestimated, as many cases go unreported.

“These statistics are deeply alarming. As healthcare professionals, we have many tools to prevent disease and promote health,” says Jim Brexler, President and CEO of Doylestown Health. “By partnering with the Beau Biden Foundation, we will have additional resources to raise awareness and empower our hospital staff, parents, and community members to recognize signs of child sexual abuse and grooming. The good news is that child abuse can be prevented. These workshops will give us another opportunity to work together as a community to counter this serious threat to the physical, mental, and emotional health of innocent children.”

The trainings are an extension of our care for the youngest members of our community that includes pediatric outreach, emergency and urgent care, outpatient specialty care, and services delivered in the hospital setting. The Emergency Department at Doylestown Hospital and Urgent Care on Swamp Road provide acute pediatric care. Through the Della Penna Pediatric Program, Doylestown Health reaches more than 10,000 children and parents in the community annually and provides ongoing education on health topics including stress, mindfulness, proper handwashing, poison prevention, and nutrition, among many others.

What’s Involved

In the 60-minute workshop titled Grooming Children, Families, and Organizations, facilitated by trainers from the Beau Biden Foundation, adults learn how predators groom children, families, and organizations to isolate and abuse their victims. Using case studies, participants will learn the signs of grooming and the strategies predators use to find and lure victims. Participants will also learn ways to prevent grooming from happening.

The takeaway is eye-opening for participants as speakers describe how grooming can happen anywhere: in schools, sports, church and youth organizations, summer camps as well as through online games and social media. Still, participants will come away empowered with information.

“I sincerely appreciate that Doylestown Health has invested time and resources into the prevention of child abuse. Our top priority at Children’s Village is to provide families with a safe place to learn and grow. The more we know, the better equipped we are to advocate for children and families,” says Bernadette Rodrigo, MEd, director of Children’s Village. “The Beau Biden Foundation has provided us with powerful information that will help us protect the children in our care, our families, and the community.”

Thanks to generous underwriting, the program is offered to the community free of charge. Each session can accommodate approximately 50 people. Pre-registration is required.

Upcoming workshops will be held virtually Dec. 5, 2022, and in person Jan. 12, 2023 (weather permitting).

Registration is required for participants. Please visit Doylestownhealth.org/BBF to register. Parking is available in the garage or on the surface lots.

About the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children

The Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children (BBF) was established in June 2015 as an operating 501(c)(3) nonprofit to continue Delaware Attorney General Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III’s commitment to protect children and confront abuse. We believe that children should grow up safe and healthy, in a world free from abuse. Our conviction is that child abuse can be prevented by effectively educating adults and children, developing the next generation of child welfare professionals, and strengthening child protection laws around the country. BBF currently has child abuse prevention programming in 22 states. Learn more about the Foundation at www.BeauBidenFoundation.org and follow the Foundation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@BeauBidenFdn)