An aspect of the law applies to multiple components of coordinated school health (family and .... Victim rights to pursue legal remedies. In our study we found two ...
Analysis of State Laws on Educa4on for Adolescent Da4ng Violence Preven4on Denise M. Seabert, PhD, MCHES
Jagdish Khubchandani, MBBS, PhD Results
Background There is a growing amount of interest in the quality of adolescent dating relationships and the outcomes of such relationships.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Nationwide, more than 1 in 10 adolescents report being abused in a romantic relationship every year (CDC, 2014). In addition, adolescent dating violence (ADV) has long term serious health and social effects on the victims.
Little is known about the content of the state laws on education for ADV prevention, the major components of these laws, and their strengths and weaknesses.
By year 2013, 21 states had an existing law on ADV prevention. Northeastern US had the highest proportion of states with a law on ADV prevention education. Midwestern US had the lowest proportion of states with a law on ADV prevention education. State laws on education for ADV prevention have common elements that can be classified into three groups. In year 2014, 12 additional states introduced legislation on ADV prevention (7 failed and 5 pending decision). In YRBS 2011, the majority of the states [n=35/50, 70%] had ADV rates higher than national average.
Geographic Region
States With Laws
States Without Laws
% With Laws
8 (MI, WI, MN, IA, MO, ND, SD, KS)
Total States 12
Midwest
4 (IL, IN, NE, OH)
West
4 (AZ, CO, OR, WA)
7(MT, WY, NM, ID, UT, NV, CA)
11
36%
South
8 (DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, TN, TX, VA)
8 (WV, KY, NC, SC, AL, MS, AR, OK)
16
50%
Northeast
5 (CT, MA, NJ, PA, RI)
4 (ME, NH, VT, NY)
9
56%
Objectives The purpose of this study was to: 1. Explore the extent to which individual states in the United States have implemented laws on education for ADV prevention. 2. Explore the content of state laws on education for ADV. 3. Summarize strengths and weaknesses of existing laws in the context of ADV prevention.
Methods
A systematic review of literature and state legislation documents was conducted by using Google Web, Google Scholar, ProQuest Congressional, WestlawNext and these steps were followed: 1. Searches were conducted for states with specific requirements for model ADV prevention policies by state.
4. Selection criteria was limited to: a. Documents must pertain to dating violence prevention b. Documents must provide guidelines that support the creation of policies c. Documents must be developed by the state entity or a partner organization
Policy Strengths & Weaknesses The team of investigators discussed the strengths and weaknesses of individual policies as they appeared on state websites. Discrepancies were sorted between the 3 investigators. For each law , the following observations were made: 1. An aspect of some laws requires training for teachers while most laws do not have such directions. 2. An aspect of the law applies to multiple components of coordinated school health (family and community, psychological services, health education, etc.). 3. Some laws were detailed in scope / sequence while some were vaguely written. 4. Laws varied in language, while some laws used strong language such as “mandatory” or “required”, others used the terms “recommended” or “encouraged”. 5. A few state laws require a top down approach starting with a model (curriculum, policy, collateral) being created at the state DOE level to be implemented at the local school division level. 6. Most laws were not comprehensive in nature – they did not include all of the following: directives to create and enforce policies related to preventing, reporting and managing dating/sexual violence, requirements teacher preparation, model curricula development to guide student education, etc.
Recommendations
5. Finally, searches were conducted for all remaining states that did not specify recommendations or requirements for the development of model policies and for states without legislation for ADV prevention.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). Teen Dating Violence. Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen_dating_violence.html • Draucker, C. B., Martsolf, D. S., Stephenson, P. S., Heckman, T., Ferguson, C., Perkins, S., et al. (2012). Types of aggressive relationships in adolescent dating violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 21(5), 516-539. • State Law Report Cards 2010: A National Survey on Teen Dating Violence Laws. (2010). Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://www.breakthecycle.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2010-Dating-Violence-StateLaw-Report-Card-Full-Report.pdf
Exploratory Analysis 1. ADV prevalence data were analyzed for states with laws (before vs. after implementation). There were no statistically significant differences observed for groups 2. A logistic regression analysis was conducted based on various factors that could be associated with presence or absence of ADV laws (e.g. number of schools in states, number of students etc.). States with ADV prevalence rates higher than the national average were significantly more likely to have a law (OR=1.47, 95%CI=1.26-5.40).
Definitions Purpose Purpose of laws and policies and prohibitions against dating violence Scope Scope of laws and policies (e.g., where policies apply) Prohibited behavior Specific behaviors defined as dating violence District Level Components District policy Development and implementation of policies District policy review Review of school district policies Action Responsibilities Reporting Responsibilities for reporting bullying incidents Investigations Responsibilities for investigating reports Written records Responsibilities for keeping records of incidents Consequences Consequences or sanctions for bullying perpetrators Primary Care and Mental health Counseling (victims and perpetrators) and medical services for Counseling victims School Climate Improvement Communications Communication of policy to students, parents, and school personnel. Training/ prevention Prevention and training for school personnel and students Transparency/monitoring Monitoring incidents and actions/public reporting Legal remedies Victim rights to pursue legal remedies
3. Available documents were downloaded and website locations were documented. Documents were briefly reviewed by title and content to confirm appropriateness to the study.
References
33%
Strategies The investigators discussed potential strategies to evaluate state laws. The ultimate goal of these laws is to prevent and reduce ADV. The following statistical methods were conducted: 1. Percent change in ADV prevalence before and after implementation of a law in each state. 2. Comparing states with laws and without laws for prevalence of ADV.
Desirable Elements in State Laws on ADV Prevention:
2. Targeted searches of state departments of education and school board association websites were conducted when documents could not be immediately located through the initial search.
Three independent investigators analyzed content and sorted discrepancies with discussion.
Evaluation Strategies for Influence of Laws
Observations:
Specifically, adolescent dating violence has emerged as a major child/adolescent health problem (Draucker et. al., 2012)
In response to ADV several states have taken a step forward and enacted laws aiming to prevent ADV through school based interventions (Break the Cycle, 2010).
Lisa Beck, MEd
In our study we found two major areas of concern: 1. Content of Laws, and 2. Lack of evidence for implementation and evaluation of laws. Therefore, the following recommendations are being proposed:
Key Components of Laws: State laws on education for ADV prevention can be broadly categorized into 3 groups: 1. 2. 3.
Legislations mandating ADV education or awareness in school curriculum. Legislations requiring the development of "Model" ADV educational materials or policy. Legislations urging the adoption of ADV prevention school curriculum.
• States that do not have an ADV law should consider enacting one. • States with laws need to clarify the recommendations for schools and include desired elements in state laws in order to implement policies which will have the greatest impact. • Research on efficacy of laws should be conducted to identify effective strategies to prevent teen dating violence. • States should work with health officials, schools, and stakeholders to collect surveillance data for prevalence of ADV. • States and schools should support and recommend implementation of evidence-based programs to prevent ADV (e.g. Safe Dates and Fourth R) that are proven to prevent and intervene in violent teen dating relationships. • ADV prevention programs and curricula should be grounded in science/best practice to see a true reduction in prevalence of ADV.
