Strategy

Adults and Child Together Raising Safe Kids (ACT-RSK)

What is it?

Adults and Child Together Raising Safe Kids (ACT-RSK) is an early prevention parenting program designed to promote positive parenting and prevent child maltreatment for parents of children ages birth through 10 years. The program was created to address research indicating that violence, abuse, and neglect in the early years of a child’s life are mostly perpetuated by parents. ACT-RSK promotes positive parenting skills that create safe, stable, and nurturing environments that prevent children’s exposure to abuse. ACT-RSK is led by trained ACT facilitators, organized in eight 2-hour interaction group sessions, and held in community-based settings.

What is the evidence base?

Parents who participate in ACT-RSK gain child development knowledge, increase their use of positive parenting behaviors, reduce the use of physical punishment, and demonstrate improved knowledge regarding violence prevention and parenting. Children demonstrate a decrease in aggressive behaviors and bullying.

• Mowder and Yasik_2006_The ACT Against Violence Training Program
• Porter and Howe_2008_Pilot Evaluation of the “ACT Parents Raising Safe Kids” Violence Prevention Program