School Programs
At the Cortland Child Advocacy Center, one of our goals is to provide educational and training resources to all schools and organizations in Cortland County to prevent, recognize, and respond to child abuse. We have two curriculums that we can use help with educating students. The first curriculum that we have is The Child, Teen and Athlete Safety Matters this curriculum covers grades K-8th. We also have our Building Healthy Relationships program that covers UPK as well as other grades by special request. These programs both provide engaging and effective curriculum for students in grades Pre-K through 12 to teach students to prevent, recognize, and respond to abuse. Our Child and Teen Safety Matters curriculum covers the NYS mandate of “Erin’s Law” in a 2 lesson format, which has been very beneficial for our surrounding schools.
Erin’s Law
On January 24th, 2019, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Erin’s Law which requires that all students in public school, grades K-8 be instructed on the prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Erin’s Law is a nationwide law that requires all public schools to implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program. It was implemented by childhood sexual abuse survivor Erin Merryn. The goal is for each student in the country to receive proper training and education to protect themselves against abuse.
