Expanding Successful Interventions for Children with Sexual Behavior Problems in the Kansas City Metro

For this project, the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA) will expand its treatment program for Youth with Sexual Behavior Problems (YSBP) and treatment for adolescent sex offenders to MOCSA's entire service area including Clay, Platte, Jackson and Cass Counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas. MOCSA serves as the only rape crisis center for the six-county, bi-state Kansas City region. The program provides effective treatment for Youth with Sexual Behavior Problems using the University of Oklahoma Problematic Sexual Behavior Cognitive Behavioral Therapy protocol (OU-PSB-CBT). MOCSA leads the response to sexual violence in the region, and the successful YSBP multidisciplinary team in Jackson County, Missouri (where Kansas City is centered) is recognized as a forerunner in YSBP case coordination. MOCSA also provides 24-hour crisis line support, victim advocacy, and counseling for victims and their non-offending family members. Through this expansion, MOCSA will establish a new Clay County Outreach Site that will enhance and expand intervention for children with sexual behavior problems and adolescent sex offenders. Clay and Platte Counties make up the Kansas City Northland, with a wide range of urban, rural, and Qualified Opportunity Zone areas. This region's Child Advocacy Center has indicated a need for the expanded programming, and Clay-Platte constitutes MOCSA's second-highest area of demand for service in Missouri, after Jackson County, where MOCSA also provides YSBP services. This project will also expand YPSB treatment services to Johnson and Wyandotte Counties in Kansas. The Child Advocacy Center serving these counties has indicated a need for the expanded programming and has agreed to refer clients to MOCSA for YPSB treatment services. MOCSA will work with its existing Clay-Platte and Johnson-Wyandotte partners to convene or participate in Multidisciplinary Teams to respond collaboratively to cases, and to develop an assessment of system resources for offending youth, victims, and caregivers. The target populations for this project include youth ages 6-14 for YSBP, adolescents up to age 17, and non-offending family members, parents, and caregivers. MOCSA expects this program to serve 80 individuals during the grant period. This includes 40 youth with sexual behavior problems and 40 parents/caregivers. Overall, MOCSA envisions Kansas City Metro communities where proven strategies reduce the perpetration of sexual violence among youth, and victims and families have the resources they need. This project will make that vision a reality, expanding its successful interventions and expertise to prevent sexual reoffending, improve family and system responses, and bolster protective factors among youth in our Kansas City Metro communities.