Evaluation of Know & Tell®: Increasing Adults’ Knowledge of Child Maltreatment and Reporting Responsibilities

Abstract

Many educational programs aimed at addressing child maltreatment focus on teaching people how to recognize only one type of child maltreatment, most commonly child sexual abuse, rather than all types of abuse and neglect children might experience. Limited empirical evidence exists on the effectiveness of educational programs that teach adults how to identify all types of child maltreatment, as well as what reporting responsibilities are and how to properly make a report of maltreatment once it is suspected. The goal of the present study was to fill that gap by examining whether an educational program called KNOW and TELL® increased participants’ knowledge on how to identify various types of child maltreatment, what the state’s mandated reporting laws are, and how to make a report in the event maltreatment is suspected. A comparison of pre-training and post-training assessment results suggests that participants demonstrated improved knowledge on the signs of child maltreatment, reporting responsibilities, and intervention procedures after completing the training. The findings of this research support the development and implementation of state-specific educational programs that raise awareness on child maltreatment and teach adults what their statutorily mandated responsibilities are and how to report child maltreatment when it is suspected.