Erin’s Law

In 2019, New York became the 37th state to sign Erin’s Law. This law requires public schools to teach sexual abuse prevention classes to students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Erin’s Law intends to help students, parents, guardians, and school professionals identify signs of sexual abuse, and connect with appropriate local resources if abuse is disclosed.

To help local schools address this issue, our team of prevention educators visits schools across the Capital Region to deliver personal safety lessons. We use the Child Safety Matters curriculum, an evidence-based personal safety program from the Monique Burr Foundation for Children (MBF). This program uses developmentally appropriate lessons to teach children about safety awareness, identifying safe adults, types of abuse, red flags, bullying, digital safety, and five easy-to-remember safety rules. Child Safety Matters is adaptable to language learner and contained classrooms; it is recommended by the New York State Education Department to fulfill Erin’s Law requirements and General School Requirements s (c)(12).

We find the most successful approach to prevention engages entire communities. If your school community has questions about bringing these lessons to your school, we are available to present at Parent Nights if you would like to talk through any concerns. Abuse prevention can be a tricky topic - our educators can support you as you have this community discussion.

Are you interested in bringing abuse prevention classes to your school? Our team is happy to meet with you to talk more!

To schedule a program with our educators, please complete this Program Request Form. For more information, contact prevention.education@sphp.com