Regents of the University of California, U.C. San Diego, CA
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) is partnering with SBCS, an organization dedicated to serving domestic violence (DV) survivors and their families. Specifically, this project will partner with SBCS’s Mi Escuelita Therapeutic Preschool program to advance the field of DV prevention through a multigenerational frame in the proposed project, Multigenerational DV Prevention: Behavior, Attachment, & Co-Created Curriculum. UCSD will lead a community engaged research and evaluation effort with the goals of: (1) collaborating with adult DV survivors/lived experience experts to co-create DV prevention curricula for children across developmental stages; and (2) serving as external evaluators to rigorously assess the Mi Escuelita program, thereby building practice-based evidence and showcasing Mi Escuelita as an evidence informed program with outcomes linked to disrupting the cycle of violence. SBCS’ Mi Escuelita Therapeutic Preschool supports children aged 2-5 who have experienced early childhood trauma resulting from exposure to DV. Mi Escuelita aims to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children to heal and thrive. The program serves children and families in San Diego’s South Region, a predominantly Hispanic and bilingual community characterized by high DV rates and economic disadvantage.