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November 19, 2013

Superintendent Joshua P. Starr


Montgomery County Public Schools
850 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, Maryland 201850
RE: Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Montgomery County Public Schools

Dear Dr. Starr:


After providing child sex abuse prevention training known as the Enough Abuse Campaign for
Excel Beyond the Bell staff, I was contacted, as the Chair of the Maryland Partnership to Prevent
Child Sexual Abuse (MPPCSA), by several Montgomery County parents who voiced
considerable concerns about student safety resulting from employee misconduct. They believe
that the County has failed to take the necessary steps to prevent this alarming problem from reoccurring.
On October 28, 2013, I spoke with Mr. Robert Grundy from the Office of Performance
Evaluation regarding these parents concerns and to offer resources afforded by the MPPCSAs
Enough Abuse Campaign (EAC), including the Gatekeepers for Kids Initiative-preventing child
sexual abuse in youth serving organizations. I am following up to ensure that you, as the
Superintendent of MCPS, are aware of the MPPCSA work. I would also like to schedule a time
to meet with you to discuss MPPCSAs available resources to assist MCPS in assessing your
current policies and practices and developing comprehensive strategies to reduce the risk of child
sexual abuse within your schools.
The Enough Abuse Campaign is a public health effort that was brought to Maryland after a
decade of success in Massachusetts. Prevent Child Abuse, Maryland (The Family Tree), the
Maryland State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Governors Office for Children, the
Maryland Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics, the Department of Human Resources, the
Maryland State Department of Education, Johns Hopkins Moore Center for the Prevention of
Child Sexual Abuse, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Maryland Coalition
Against Sexual Assault and many other public and private agencies worked together to create

MPPCSA and lead Marylands Enough Abuse Campaign. The Campaign serves as a community
resource for parents, professionals, organizations and other concerned adults to prevent child
sexual abuse. It also aims to prevent children from developing abusive behaviors in the future.
In addition to Maryland, The Enough Abuse Campaign also has a significant presence in New
Jersey, New York, and California. Included with this letter are some resource materials from The
Campaign.
Now in the third year of our collaborative work, we are proud of our accomplishments largely
because of the coordinated effort between twenty-six credible and committed state-level partners
as well as an equal number of local community partners. To date, more than 30 trainers
throughout Maryland are certified to conduct trainings using the EACs five standardized
curriculums. We have reached over 1,500 individuals and trained over 700 staff and mangers
from over 50 youth serving organizations. This year, we initiated the Gatekeepers for Kids
Initiative to educate institutions in strategies to strengthen their child protection policies and
practices. Through Gatekeepers we offer a comprehensive assessment tool, practical guide, fact
sheets, resource bank of policies and tools, as well as, training and consultation. And yet, we are
very aware that the work has only just begun.
We turn to you, as a leader in the school community, for assistance in reaching more schools,
organizations and individuals throughout Montgomery County; and encourage you to join with
us in this important opportunity to end child sexual abuse before it occurs. Together we can
strengthen the knowledge, skills, policies and practices of parents, educators, community
members, and organizational leaders entrusted to protect Marylands children from the life-time
devastating effects of child sexual abuse.
I will contact your office in the near future to schedule a convenient time to meet with you.
MPPCSA is eager to share these valuable resources to help assess your systems student
protection program. I look forward to working with you to address this critical issue.

Sincerely,

Patricia Cronin, LCSW-C


The Enough Abuse Campaign
Maryland

CC:

Parents Coalition of Montgomery County


Maryland State Department of Education
Office of Performance Evaluation

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