>> welcome to "beyond the headlines." i'm cheryl jennings. our goal today is to raise awareness about child abuse and how to prevent it. child abuse, sadly, is a year-round problem, and the effects of child abuse can last a lifetime and can happen to anyone. the perpetrators may be people you know. one of the important things to consider is what will you do if you find out about the abuse? what should you do? abc7 news reporter tiffany wilson talked recently with a woman who is suing an easy bay school district, accusing them of not doing anything about the abuse she says she suffered from a coach she trusted. >> newspaper clippings capture sherinne wilson on the court, but her memories of high school are buried in these journals. >> i lived with shame.

i thought it was my fault. >> wilson says her basketball coach, leland sandler, started a sexual relationship with her when she was 16, often giving her drugs and writing notes like this to excuse her from class. >> he was a person in authority, and we're still taught, you know, that you listen to people in authority and you respect them, and that's what i did. >> eventually, wilson says her parents discovered the illicit relationship and confronted the principal at san ramon valley high school. >> the principal came up with -- told my parents that my four younger siblings would have to go to a different school if this came out, and it would just be better for everybody if it didn't come out. >> so nobody ever contacted police. wilson says her coach was allowed to stay on the condition he stop any physical relationship with her. what allegedly happened next still brings wilson to tears 30 years later.

she says, the principal, james henderson, walked in on sandler having sex with her again. >> i just remember our eyes meeting, and i remember thinking, "he's gonna tell. he's gonna do something. he's gonna call the police now. this is gonna be over." and i remember like a sense of relief, and he -- basically, he turned around [voice breaking] and he locked the door. and he never said a word. >> in february, wilson filed a $15-million lawsuit against the school district and her former principal. neither the school district, principal, nor former coach have returned multiple requests for comment. >> we believe the court will rule in sherinne's favor because what happened here can't possibly be supported. >> wilson only came forward after reading about kristen cunnane's similar experience with a middle-school coach in moraga. that coach was convicted. wilson hopes to empower other victims by sharing her story.

>> it takes courage to talk about it, and, you know, if i could -- if i could help others do the same, they're gonna become stronger, and they're gonna take control of their lives back. >> she also wants her story to serve as a cautionary tale for today's teens, who she feels are especially at risk because of social media and smartphones. in santa rosa, tiffany wilson, abc7 news. >> it took her so many years to find her voice, so i want to thank sherinne for having the courage to talk with us about this, and joining me in the studio right now is a woman who wants to stop that kind of abuse forever. she is executive director of the san francisco child abuse prevention center -- katie albright, and we have worked together for many years in this fight. now, you have two locations -- one is the firehouse on waller street and, of course, the children's advocacy center out in the bayview. >> first, cheryl, thank you so much for having me here today and shining the light. we all have a role to play in preventing child abuse, and thank you for being such a champion in this effort. >> it is a team effort. you know, it takes all of us

to do this, and one of the things that you were sharing with me before we started the program is that the numbers just don't go down, sadly. >> no, in fact, in san francisco, there are more than 5,000 reports of child abuse each year, and the research shows that actually there's about 40% of cases that are never even reported. it's tragic. >> you have a place now that's just beautiful. i got to tour it last year, and i want to show people an update of the children's advocacy center. advocacy center in the bayview is just beautiful. it's a nice, safe place where kids who have been abused can share their stores one time. >> it's an incredible partnership that we have with the city and county of san francisco, where, as you said, children can come in and share their story one time with all the excellent and expert professionals that need to hear that child's story so that we can really help that family find justice and help that child on a path to healing. it's incredible. in fact, since we started this work in 2008, we see a 76% increase in the number of these best practices interviews.

we're thrilled to have just gotten national accreditation earlier this month, and so really have just been very proud of our partnership that we can do to make sure that all kids in our city are safe. >> i was reading on your website about something that just stunned me. you believe that we can actually end the cycle of violence in families. you have a new program. you wrote an essay about this. >> it's -- we have been saying for years that we are going to prevent abuse, reduce it, but now i really believe, we really believe we can actually end it in our generation. we have a terrific program where we provide support for families in crisis. we focus on five protective factors, and these are things that people have researched and defined that families need in order to keep their kids safe. so parent resiliency -- whether or not a parent can weather the ups and downs of life at any time in any crisis. a child's resiliency, or social/emotional competencies. whether or not a parent understands age-appropriate

behavior, and whether or not a family has social connections, or are they so deeply isolated maybe because of violence or mental-health issues that they can't seek help, and finally we look at concrete support, so basic family needs -- food, clothing, shelter. these things together help keep kids safe, and we have a fantastic program that we're providing kids with the support and families with the support. we do it through our 24/7 phone support line, our talk line, as well as counseling services, playroom, other child care, other kinds of group activities for parents to really engage and get the support that they need to keep their kids safe and break generational cycles of violence. >> i was reading about how you think two generations it can be done. you did something with the aspen institute about this area. >> we just published an article with the aspen institute earlier this week, and we do believe that working with parents and children together, in two generations, that we can really

focus on moving families out of generational cycles of violence, and we have the results to show it. about 76% of our families are showing improvement in their protective factors, which means improvement in their ability to keep their kids safe against all odds, against all the risks, against all their own generational cycles of violence that they may be coming through. so we're very excited about this program. >> katie, we have about 10 seconds left. most important thought you have you want to leave people with? >> parenting is tough, and if you need support and you need help, call our phone support line 24/7. it's 415-441-kids. and, as we said in the beginning, it's gonna take all of us working together to prevent abuse, but we can. >> katie, thank you so much. we appreciate it so much. and we had the talk line on the screen for everybody, and we will have that on our website, as well. now, when we come, you're going to learn about an educational organization that offers free

material to raise awareness about child abuse prevention. stay with us. you don't want to miss it. we'll be right back.

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>> welcome back to our program on how to prevent child abuse. we're joined by two women who have been longtime partners in the fight against abuse. patty shimek is a founder of a nonprofit grassroots organization called partners in prevention, and kathy baxter, who led the san francisco child abuse prevention council for decades, and she has been my mentor on child-abuse issues for three decades. i can't believe it's been that long. wow. so now you have a whole new venture. this is just such a nice supplement to the work that katie albright is doing. >> she's been my mentor, too. >> all right, so, patty, let me start with you. you founded this. kathy, you're the vice president. so what is partners in prevention and why did you do it? >> as you said, we are a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization comprised of people who believe that prevention is the way to end child abuse in this country and in our communities. >> and you also have a lot of products that we're gonna talk

about in a little while, right? >> yes, yes. >> but, kathy, why did you and patty decide to join forces on this? >> well, you know, cheryl, i'd worked in the field for so long, and i consider myself a civilian now, i've been saying. i'm retired. i wanted to do something that i felt could reach out and be able to give things to people. for a long time, all of our programs have struggled with limited budgets, not being able to develop materials, getting a message out there to the community about child abuse, and to say that we believe that child abuse can be prevented. as someone who's now reading the paper, watching tv, i was expecting to see so much this month on child abuse, this april, and other months throughout the year, and you realize that unless there's a sensational case, it's very hard to get the message out there, and we want the message to be 365 days a year. >> you're right. it is a year-round problem. so who are you working with and who is your audience? >> well, we are a diverse group of individuals from business, from civil society, from other organizations that work in this

area -- experts -- and our audience is every adult. >> because it's a family affair. it's a family event. we all have to be involved. >> the responsibility is not for a child to be safe in their own childhood. the responsibility is in all adults -- not just the parent, but all adults. >> you're absolutely right. now, i received a packet of material, some of the things that you all distribute, and it was fantastic, and there was a hashtag in there for those folks who like to tweet, and i do, and it's called "how we do blue," and i love to show people that because it's part of a calendar that's year-round. >> yes. >> so we're gonna put that up on the screen right now so that you want to get involved, you want to wear a blue ribbon for the love of a child, but your hashtag is "how we do blue." >> how we do blue. how we do blue -- yes. how you do blue. >> i did this in honor of this particular and important story. so, you have been asked by many, many people all across the country and the world now

for these materials. >> it's so exciting that -- to be a partner in prevention means simply to understand what the blue ribbon represents and to wear it or display it in your life as you go about your day, and through our website, through conferences, international conferences, people have contacted us from the bahamas, from other states -- fayetteville, north carolina, throughout the greater bay area, of course, and reached out and said, "how do i do this? what does it take?" it takes simply to be able to know what the blue ribbon represents and to be united in the belief that the best treatment for child abuse in adulthood is to have not have had it happen at all, to prevent it, so that is our mission -- preventing it from starting. >> we usually do the other way. we talk about the abuse and how horrible it is, but we don't talk about this piece of it. so, kathy, when the conversation starts, what do people say to you about getting these materials? >> well, they want to know how to get them, and part of it is

we have this wonderful network of the 10 bay area child abuse councils that we've been working with for years. now i work as a volunteer with patty getting the materials out. patty is a great visual person and a great person looking at messaging, and she works with some other excellent people. so they've created wonderful materials, and it's really a pleasure to be able to say, "we can give you these materials. we can give you pins, bookmarks, posters, anything you need to spread the word," and people are just grabbing them and saying, "what else can we do? what else can we do?" and it's know what child abuse is. >> well, we're gonna talk a lot more about this in just a moment. we have to take a break. kathy and patty are going to stay with us for another segment. when we come back, what you can do to show your support in the fight against child abuse.

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>> we are back, talking about ways to prevent child abuse and how you can join that effort. our guests are patty shimek, the founder of partners in prevention, and kathy baxter, the vice president of partners in prevention, and both of them are longtime advocates for prevention, and we talked about what it means to be a partner in prevention. it's something we all need to get involved with, but you have so much great material here. so i want to start first with these dolls whom i got to see during a presentation at a school to help children learn about safe touches, good and bad touches. >> mm-hmm. >> so, what are these guys' names here? >> harry and sally. >> [ chuckles ] they're so cute. now, their clothing is just -- it's covering strategic places. >> mm-hmm, right. they're bathing suits, right, on harry, and on sally, the two-piece bathing suit,

which are very obvious, clear messages for children to identify these are your private areas. >> mm-hmm. all right, now you also have -- this goes in the schools to talk to kids about touches, and the message that you have for them is three easy rules. >> right. >> yes, yes. it's say no, get away, and tell someone, and keep telling until someone listens. the overarching message is one of empowerment -- i can. i can do these things. you can. it's safe and correct. >> and you also have a lot of material. this book is fascinating because it says, "enough. child sexual abuse. ten conversations." so, kathy, tell me about this. >> right. you know, a couple of years ago, the bay area coalition of child abuse council and several other groups merged and talked about child sex abuse, and this is the campaign they came up with. simple campaign -- enough. enough child sex abuse. and we want to make materials

available to parents, to adults, and decided to print the "ten conversations," which were available online. many people can go online, but many of our parents and other people do not go online, so these booklets are available for people to read -- simple, 10 conversations. you can do one a day, one a week with your children and talk about preventing child sex abuse. >> you also have -- what i see here. you've got the calendar that we talked about earlier. you've got a big calendar, you have bookmarks. you have coloring books that are strategic in their message, too. patty, tell me about the coloring books. >> well, the coloring books are an activity that give children an opportunity to relax and share with their parent, caregiver, their friends, any adult what they're experiencing in life and hopefully it empowers them. they're treated as superheroes for themselves. it gives them a voice, gives them power. you are your own individual, and although we do not expect children to be responsible for their own safety in childhood, it is an opportunity

for parents to speak and adults to speak to the children. >> you work with a lot of different agencies. we're gonna be talking about the contra costa agency in a minute. so, do they ask for advice, support materials, what? >> all of it. i think mostly materials. i think that is the biggest area where we need more, and i see us, partners in prevention, as a supplement to everyone who's doing the work out there. so anyone can call and say, "well, what do you have this year? what are you gonna make available?" pins, bookmarks, ten command-- ten commandments -- "ten conversations." >> they should be. >> they should be the ten commandments for parents to really know what to do with their kids. >> the program that you have, it's not just gonna be stagnant. i mean, you are constantly evolving. so you've got some future plans. >> yes, we do. well, mostly we're listening right now to adult survivors, to people who work in the field, and to children. we want to find the best messaging possible. we want to develop the best messaging possible to end

child abuse. we, too, believe that it can be ended. we can stop it. >> i think that one of the things that people don't know is that they don't have to pay anything for these materials. >> right. >> there's no office because it's in your work office. >> right. we have no overhead expenses that most organizations find necessary, so, at this time, these last two years, we've been able to meet the requests of providing these materials at no charge. >> that's wonderful. thank you both so much for what you're doing and thanks for being here today. >> thank you. >> all right, and we do have to take a break. now, coming up next, we're gonna show you a program that has a very aggressive program to teach children how to protect themselves from child abuse, so please stay with us. we'll be right back.

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>> welcome back to "beyond the headlines." we are talking about how to prevent child abuse and what you can do to join the fight. right now our guest is

carol carrillo with the child abuse prevention council of contra costa county, and, carol, thank you so much for being here today. you have a very comprehensive program, and i love this poster because it says -- if i can just hold this up here. it says, "child help. speak up. be safe. prevention education curriculum." and this is for 1 to 6th grade, and there are so many good little pieces of advice for children on here, so walk me through that. >> absolutely. our speak up be safe program is a comprehensive approach to child abuse prevention. we teach 1st-through-6th-grade students a curriculum on child abuse prevention, bullying prevention, and sexual harassment prevention. >> wow. so it's not just child abuse or child sexual abuse. bullying is a huge problem, too. >> yes, it is. absolutely. so it's very comprehensive. it really does touch on teaching kids about all those sort of issues and how to prevent those issues. >> i want to talk about something that -- i've been following the issue of child abuse, child abuse prevention my entire career because i'm very passionate

about this. i was fortunate to have a good, safe childhood, and i believe every child should have that. >> yes, we do, too. >> we love the props here. so you have dolls that you use in your curriculum. so do these little critters have names? >> they -- we use sally and -- the same names that other programs use. >> yes, okay. >> and -- but really it's really designed to show our younger kids, our 1st-through-3rd-grade children their private body parts, and what's covered by a bathing suit is considered their private body parts, and that no one really should be touching those private body parts or showing you their private body parts unless, of course, it's a parent or a caretaker and they're touching your private body parts to keep you clean and safe or, of course, a doctor or a medical provider that's touching your private body parts to keep you healthy. other than that, there should never be games around or any sort of tricks around your private body parts because those are yours and not to be shown

to other people. >> so how do you give the kids the language to say that's not okay, especially if they're already in a situation? >> well, what we do, particularly with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-graders is we play some really fun games. we talk about safe secrets and unsafe secrets, and we have kids stand up, and we give different scenarios, and we say, "if this is a safe secret, give a thumbs-up, if it's not a safe secret, thumbs-down." so we have different scenarios and different ways to present the material to kids at an age-appropriate level so they can understand and really get a sense of what's safe and what's unsafe. >> i know you got some good advice from the partners in prevention, and you modeled your program after the one they use in the schools in san francisco. >> absolutely. yes, we did. and we have bookmarks to sort of help reinforce the safety rules of telling someone, making sure that you keep telling your safe adult until that safe adult believes you and helps that abuse from

happening. >> and i know that you're in a big county -- big county. >> yes. >> i mean, san francisco's big, and their numbers are large. >> yeah. well, last year we were looking at about 10,000 reports of suspected child abuse, and we look at about one-in-four cases daily that get investigated for -- so rises to the level of higher needs and being investigated. so it's definitely a problem. it's a problem in every community in contra costa county, and we are really working to spread the word and spread our prevention programs throughout the county. >> you have a great staff, a great crew. we have some pictures of the folks who work with you, and we wanted to show them and thank them for the work they're doing. they've got the dolls there, and, you know, the cohesiveness of a team like that -- like, everybody who's been on this program today, everybody works together. that's so impressive. >> yes, we really do. and it is a team approach. we all need to work together to prevent child abuse in our communities, and i think we're doing a really great job this month, every month of the year to make sure that our kids are

kept safe and that are community can really rally around and learn about this issue and learn how they can help protect kids in our community. >> and i just want to reinforce the message that kids can take with them, for folks who are watching this, if they're in trouble, if they have to find that safe adult they keep telling, so the words on these bookmarks are? >> yeah, "stay away. i can -- i can keep myself safe and to tell a safe adult and to keep telling that adult until the abuse stops." >> and i think kids don't know that they can say no, that they have the power, the right to say no. >> that's right, that's right. and we're teaching them that they can, and they can help keep themselves safe. >> and how many kids do you have in your program now? >> well, last year, over the last two years, we trained 3,500 students. we work with their parents and the school staff, so it really is a team effort in keeping kids safe. >> oh, thank you so much for what you're doing, carol. >> thank you so much for your support. >> all right. for more information about today's program, go to our website -- abc7news.com/community, or on facebook at

abc7communityaffairs. have a great day.

a disaster scene in nepal, an overhead view shows the stroke of dediscussion. >> the international response. good afternoon. >> we begin with developing news on the nepal earthquake. the dust has not even settled and already the world is descend only nepal after the earthquake near the capital of kathmandu hit. the death toll is now 2500. the u.n. says 30 international medical and search teams are heading to the scene.