From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Federal Agencies Can Better Support State Efforts to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse by School Personnel Description: Audio interview by GAO staff with Kay Brown, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Related GAO Work: GAO-14-42: Child Welfare: Federal Agencies Can Better Support State Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Sexual Abuse by School Personnel Released: January 2014 [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. It's January 2014. While all forms of child abuse are troubling, sexual abuse by school personnel raises particular concerns because of the trust placed in schools. A team led by Kay Brown, a director in GAO's Education, Workforce, and Income Security team, recently examined federal, state, and school district efforts to prevent and address such abuse. GAO's Sarah Kaczmarek sat down with Kay to talk about what they found. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] What are states and school districts doing to prevent child sexual abuse by school personnel? [ Kay Brown: ] Well, experts tell us that states and districts have three different steps that they can take to try to help prevent this type of abuse. And the first one is background checks, and we know that, through a 50-state survey that we did, that most states, but not all, do require that schools conduct background checks on their job applicants. This can tell them if they have previous criminal behavior that might be an indication of some problems. The second thing that they can do is install professional standards or codes of conduct, and those types of requirements help the school personnel understand what types of behavior would be inappropriate. They help clarify those issues. And then the third thing is awareness training, and this is a really important action that can really make a difference with helping school personnel understand if they see signs of abuse, what those indications might be, and what to do if they see it. None of these three things are a perfect solution, and all of them can be strengthened. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] If school personnel suspect sexual abuse or misconduct, what are they required to report? [ Kay Brown: ] Well, almost all states require that school personnel report any kind of suspected abuse, and depending on the state law, they could be required to report to either child protective services or law enforcement officials. In some cases, states also require that school personnel report to either a state administrator or a school district may ask that personnel also report to them. But the law will require that they have to report to either law enforcement or child protective services, and this is really, really important and it can be very difficult for teachers to think about the fact that one of their colleagues might be actually perpetrating sexual abuse, and it could be very uncomfortable, but it's very, very important that they report. And all states are required to have laws that allow someone who reports this type of abuse with good intentions to be held harmless from prosecution. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Now let me ask you, what are federal agencies doing to prevent this type of abuse? [ Kay Brown: ] Well, of course, states are the entities that are primarily responsible for protecting their children and all of their citizens, but there are three federal agencies that can really make a difference in helping states and school districts with this, and those are the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice. Each of them have a unique role and unique expertise that can really help states with these activities. And they have done some things so far, there's some training that a handful of schools have gotten and some of the agencies have developed guidance, handbooks, provided technical assistance, and there's some small grants. But really, there's no single federal agency that's taking the lead on this, essentially, what we have is a, a patchwork of activities. In our survey, we found that more than 30 states were not aware of the activities that the federal government is providing. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Now you mention three federal agencies here, what's GAO recommending to be done to improve this situation? [ Kay Brown: ] Well, we're starting with the fact that we think the Secretary of Education should take the lead in collaboration with HHS and Justice to develop a comprehensive set of activities and supports and training guides that can be made available to the states and to the school districts. And, of course, the important, second important step, is for them to disseminate this information, since we know that states weren't aware of what's available right now. [ Sarah Kaczmarek: ] Finally, for taxpayers and parents, what's the bottom line here? [ Kay Brown: ] This is a really complex and troubling problem. Sexual abuse can be very detrimental to a child's development, so it's important that all levels of government, whether they be school districts, states, and the federal government, and all of the entities involved, the human service agencies, the education agencies and law enforcement work together to try to make the very best effort to protect the children in our schools. [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] To learn more, visit GAO.gov and be sure to tune in to the next episode of GAO's Watchdog Report for more from the Congressional Watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office.