pilot program; sexual abuse prevention

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details about the effectiveness measurement criteria.

Pilot Program for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse

HB2992 establishes a pilot program in Arizona schools during the 2027-2028 school year to educate teachers and students about preventing child sexual abuse.

What This Bill Does

• Establishes a pilot program within the Department of Education (ADE) until December 31, 2028.
• Requires ADE to select six public schools to participate in the Pilot Program during the 2027-2028 school year by July 1, 2027.
• Includes training for teachers on recognizing and responding to child sexual abuse, including online threats.
• Provides age-appropriate education for students on identifying and preventing child sexual abuse.
• Develops a uniform policy for schools to report instances of child sexual abuse.
• Allows parents or guardians to opt their children out of the program.

Who It Names or Affects

• Arizona public school teachers
• Students in participating Arizona public schools
• Parents and legal guardians of students

Terms To Know

Grooming

A pattern of conduct used to gain a minor's trust, desensitize the minor to inappropriate conduct, and facilitate exploitation.

Exploitation

The manipulation, abuse or use of a minor for sexual purposes, including trafficking and extortion.

Limits and Unknowns

• It is unclear how the effectiveness of the pilot program will be measured beyond the required reports.
• Parents or guardians must provide written notification to exempt their children from participating.

Official Summary Text

HB2992 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet

Assigned to
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COMMITTEE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session

FACT SHEET FOR
h.b. 2992

pilot program; sexual abuse prevention

Purpose

Establishes the Child Sexual Abuse and Assault Awareness and Prevention
Pilot Program (Pilot Program) in the Arizona Department of Education (ADE)
until December 31, 2028.

Background

Each school operated by a school district or charter school must post, in
a clearly visible location in a public area that is readily accessible to
students, a sign that contains: 1) the phone number of the Arizona Child Abuse
Hotline; 2) instructions to call 911 for emergencies; and

3) directions for accessing the Department of Child Safety (DCS) website for
more information on reporting child abuse, neglect and exploitation (
A.R.S.
� 15-160.01
).

H.B. 2992 appropriates $100,000 from
the state General Fund (state GF) in FY 2027 to ADE.

Provisions

1.

Establishes
the Pilot Program in ADE and requires ADE, by July 1, 2027, to select six
public schools to participate in the Pilot Program during the 2027-2028 school
year.

2.

Requires
ADE to consult with DCS and organizations that are operated by survivors of
grooming or human trafficking in developing the Pilot Program and the
curriculum.

3.

Requires
the Pilot Program to include, for teachers, at least four hours of in-person,
evidence-based instructional modules provided by a selected organization that
may include:

a)

training on the prevention and identification of and responses to child
sexual abuse and assault, including exploitation, grooming, grooming with the
intent to exploit and technology-facilitated abuse; and

b)

resources to further student, teacher and parental awareness and
prevention of child sexual abuse and assault, including exploitation, grooming,
grooming with the intent to exploit and technology-facilitated abuse.

4.

Requires
the Pilot Program to include, for students, at least three hours of
age-appropriate,

in-person, evidence-based instruction provided by the selected organization and

age-appropriate educational materials that are designed for children in K-12
relating to child sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention, including
exploitation, grooming behaviors and grooming with the intent to exploit.

5.

Allows
the evidence-based instruction to include instruction in skills to recognize:

a)

child sexual abuse and assault;

b)

boundary violations and unwanted forms of contact;

c)

grooming behaviors, including manipulation, trust building secrecy,
desensitization and isolation;

d)

exploitation and grooming with the intent to exploit that includes
online grooming, sextortion and technology-facilitated exploitation; and

e)

patterns,
tactics and warning signs associated with grooming and exploitation.

6.

Allows
the evidence-based instruction to include instruction in strategies that:

a)

promote disclosure;

b)

reduce self-blame; and

c)

mobilize
bystanders.

7.

Requires
the Pilot Program to include a uniform child sexual abuse and assault response
policy and reporting procedures that are based on best practices and allows the
Pilot Program to include:

a)

actions that victims of child sexual abuse and assault may take to
obtain assistance;

b)

intervention and counseling options for victims of child sexual abuse
and assault;

c)

access to educational resources to enable victims of child sexual abuse
and assault to succeed in school; and

d)

uniform
procedures for reporting instances of child sexual abuse and assault to school
staff members.

8.

Allows ADE to contract with a provider to implement the Pilot Program if
the provider demonstrates it can meet the outlined requirements.

9.

Requires ADE to select one or more organizations to provide the
instructional modules for teachers, students or both.

10.

Requires ADE to select one
or more organizations to provide the instructional modules that:

a)

is organized and operated for the purpose of preventing child sexual
abuse, promoting grooming awareness or preventing human trafficking; and

b)

ensures
that the individuals that will provide instruction to teachers and students are
either qualified survivors of grooming or human trafficking or advocates that
have direct expertise in child sexual abuse, grooming and human trafficking
prevention.

11.

Requires
ADE, beginning on general effective date, to gather stakeholder input to
develop a curriculum for the Pilot Program that includes scheduling stakeholder
meetings.

12.

Requires ADE to solicit
input from representatives from:

a)

DCS;

b)

organizations that are organized and operated for the purpose of
preventing child sexual abuse, grooming or human trafficking; and

c)

survivors
of child sexual abuse, grooming and human trafficking.

13.

Requires
ADE to select an organization to develop the curriculum for the Pilot Program,
coordinate stakeholder input and ensure that the curriculum is
survivor-informed, prevention-focused and appropriate for students.

14.

Requires ADE to select an
organization to provide the Pilot Program curriculum that meets the following:

a)

is organized and operated for the purpose of preventing child sexual
abuse, grooming or human trafficking; and

b)

demonstrates
that the organization has experience providing survivor-informed prevention
education.

15.

Subjects
the curriculum for the Pilot Program to State Board of Education and ADE
approval.

16.

Prohibits
a participating public school from requiring any student to participate in the
Pilot Program.

17.

Specifies
written notification to the public school from a student's legal guardian or
parent is sufficient to exempt the student from participating in the Pilot
Program or from any portion of the Pilot Program that is specified.

18.

Requires that each
participating public school, by October 1, 2028, to submit a report to ADE and
provide a copy to DCS that includes:

a)

the number of students that received the evidence-based instruction
through the Pilot Program and the number of hours of instruction the selected
organization provided;

b)

the number of teachers that completed the evidence-based instructional
modules provided through the Pilot Program;

c)

any testimony or comments from teachers, students or the parents of
students relating to the Pilot Program; and

d)

whether
the school intends to continue providing instructional modules to teachers,
students or both through the selected organization in subsequent school years.

19.

Defines

grooming
and
exploitation
.

20.

Repeals
the Pilot Program on January 1, 2029.

21.

Appropriates
$100,000 from the state GF in FY 2027 to ADE for the Pilot Program.

22.

Exempts
the appropriation from lapsing.

23.

Becomes
effective on the general effective date.

House Action

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Prepared by Senate Research

March 27, 2026

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Current Bill Text

HB2992 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed

pilot program; sexual
abuse prevention

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 2992

AN
ACT

establishing the Child sexual abuse and assault
awareness and prevention pilot program; appropriating monies.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1.
Child sexual
abuse and assault awareness and prevention pilot program; contract; provider;
curriculum development; parental exemption; reporting requirements; delayed
repeal; definitions

A. The child sexual abuse
and assault awareness and prevention pilot program is established in the
department of education. On or before July 1, 2027, the department shall select
six public schools to participate in the pilot program during the 2027-2028
school year.� The department of education
shall
consult with the department of child safety and organizations that are operated
by survivors of grooming or human trafficking
in
developing the pilot program established by this subsection
and the curriculum developed pursuant to subsection B,
paragraph 3 of this section.� The pilot program must include:

1. For teachers, at least
four hours of in-person, evidence-based instructional modules that
are provided by an organization
that is selected pursuant to subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section and that

may include the following:

(a) Training regarding the
prevention and identification of, and responses to, child sexual abuse and
assault, including
exploitation
,
grooming, grooming with the intent
to exploit and technology-facilitated abuse.

(b) Resources to further
student, teacher and parental awareness and prevention of child sexual abuse
and assault, including
exploitation
,
grooming, grooming with the intent
to exploit and technology-facilitated abuse.

2. For students, at least
three hours of
age-appropriate, in-person,
evidence-based instruction
provided by an
organization that is selected pursuant to subsection B, paragraph 2 of this
section and age-appropriate educational materials that are designed for
children in
kindergarten programs or any of grades

one through
twelve
regarding child sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention
,
including exploitation, grooming
behaviors and grooming with the intent to exploit. The evidence-based
instruction provided pursuant to this paragraph may include instruction in:

(a) Skills to recognize the
following:

(i) Child sexual abuse and
assault.

(ii) Boundary violations
and unwanted forms of contact.

(iii) Grooming behaviors,
including manipulation, trust building, secrecy, desensitization and isolation.

(iv) Exploitation and
grooming with the intent to exploit, including online grooming, sextortion and
technology-facilitated exploitation.

(v) Patterns, tactics and
warning signs associated with grooming and exploitation.

(b) Strategies that:

(i) Promote disclosure.

(ii) Reduce self-blame.

(iii) Mobilize bystanders.

3. A uniform child sexual
abuse and assault response policy and reporting procedure that is based on best
practices and that may include:

(a) Actions that victims of
child sexual abuse and assault may take to obtain assistance.

(b) Intervention and
counseling options for victims of child sexual abuse and assault.

(c) Access to educational
resources to enable victims of child sexual abuse and assault to succeed in
school.

(d) Uniform procedures for
reporting instances of child sexual abuse and assault to school staff members.

B. The department of
education
:

1. May contract with a
provider to implement the pilot program established by subsection A of this
section if the provider demonstrates that the provider is able to meet all of
the requirements prescribed by subsection A of this section.

2. Shall select one or more
organizations to provide the instructional modules for teachers pursuant to
subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section or the instruction for students
pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 2 of this section, or both.� The department
shall select an organization pursuant to this paragraph only if the
organization meets both of the following:

(a) Is organized and
operated for the purpose of preventing child sexual abuse, promoting grooming
awareness or preventing human trafficking.

(b) Ensures that the
individuals who will provide instruction to teachers and students are either
qualified survivors of grooming or human trafficking or advocates who have
direct expertise in child sexual abuse, grooming and human trafficking
prevention.

3. Beginning on the
effective date of this section, shall gather stakeholder input to develop a
curriculum for the pilot program, including scheduling stakeholder meetings,
subject to the following:

(a) The department shall
solicit input from representatives of each of the following:

(i) The department of child
safety.

(ii) Organizations that are
organized and operated for the purpose of preventing child sexual abuse,
grooming or human trafficking.

(iii) Survivors of child
sexual abuse, grooming and human trafficking.

(b) The department shall
select an organization to develop the curriculum for the pilot program,
coordinate stakeholder input and ensure that the curriculum is survivor-informed,
prevention-focused and appropriate for students.� The department shall
select an organization that both:

(i) Is organized and
operated for the purpose of preventing child sexual abuse, grooming or human
trafficking.

(ii) Demonstrates that the
organization has experience providing survivor-informed prevention
education.

(c) The curriculum
developed pursuant to subdivision (b) of this paragraph is subject to approval
by the state board of education and the department of education.

C. A public school that
participates in the pilot program established by subsection A of this section
may not require any student to participate in the pilot program. Written
notification to the public school from
a student's
parent or legal guardian is sufficient to exempt the student from participating
in the pilot program or from any portion of the pilot program that the parent
or legal guardian specifies.

D. On or before October 1,
2028, each public school that participates in the pilot program established by
subsection A of this section shall submit a report to the department of
education and a copy of the report to the department of child safety that
includes all of the following:

1. The number of students
who received evidence-based instruction through the pilot program,
together with the number of hours of instruction that the
organization that is selected pursuant to subsection B,
paragraph 2 of this section provided.

2. The number of teachers
who completed the evidence-based instructional modules provided through
the pilot program.

3. Any testimony or
comments from teachers, students or the parents of students relating to the
pilot program.

4. Whether the school
intends to continue providing instructional modules to teachers or instruction
to students, or both,
through an organization
that is selected pursuant to subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section in
subsequent school years.

E. For the purposes of this
section:

1. "Grooming"
means a pattern of conduct used to gain a minor's trust, desensitize the minor
to inappropriate conduct and facilitate exploitation.

2. "Exploitation"
means the manipulation, abuse or use of a minor for sexual purposes, sexual
conduct, sexual trafficking, sexual extortion or other sexual abuse.

F. This section is repealed
from and after December 31, 2028.

Sec. 2.
Appropriation;
department of education; child sexual abuse and assault awareness and
prevention pilot program; exemption

A. The sum of $100,000 is
appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2026-2027 to the
department of education for the child sexual abuse and assault awareness and
prevention pilot program established by this act.

B. The appropriation made
in subsection A of this section is exempt from the provisions of section
35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations, until
June 30, 2028.