An Introduction to Sexuality Education: A Handbook for Child Welfare Providers Due 5/22/2024

This manual provides child welfare providers, from foster parents to case workers, with the tools to combat problematic, inaccurate, and harmful sexuality information that comes from families, classrooms, peers, partners, and the media. It supports providers as they consider their own biases, history, and knowledge base, and affirms that sexuality education, provided in trauma informed ways, is an integral piece to the child welfare setting.

The manual is organized into four sections. The first provides guidance on self-analysis for child welfare providers themselves. Understanding their personal perspective before they bring sexuality education into the child welfare space is critical. The second section provides a broad overview on numerous topics related to sexuality that young people bring into the child welfare setting. These include anatomy, physiology, sexual arousal, reproduction, communication styles, intimate partner violence, masturbation, and more. The third section includes more than 24 handouts child welfare providers can copy and use with young people along with guides and recommendations on how to use them. The final section is an extensive list of resources, organized by topic and annotated with a brief description of what content they cover.