Learning Courage

Learning Courage has two primary goals. The first is to reduce sexual misconduct and abuse in schools. The second is to support the healing of those who have been harmed by sexual violence.

We do the first by helping schools understand where risks exist and then creating an action plan to reduce those risks. The action plan has both short and long-term goals that focus on both prevention and response. Areas in the Action plan include policies and procedures, faculty and student handbooks, reporting procedures, investigation guidelines, and many more.

We also have a certification program that has three different levels. The goal for all members is to achieve the highest level of certification, and the Action Plan provides guidance for what is required of each member to achieve a higher level of certification.

Members also have access to a library of content that we are constantly adding to and revising, based on conversations we have with schools and professionals in the field. As our name suggests, we are constantly learning about how to do this work better. And we share these insights with our members.

Achieving the second goal of supporting the healing of survivors requires changing the way that institutions have historically responded to reports of misconduct. While reducing institutional exposure is important, the evidence is clear that supporting survivors and their healing is actually the best risk reduction approach for both the individuals who have been harmed and the institution where the incident took place. And it's the right thing to do from a moral and ethical standpoint. Focusing on the individual and supporting their healing minimizes secondary trauma and demonstrates a commitment not just to the individual but also to the community. This approach reduces the length of time required to process and respond to each incident; it also generally costs institutions less in terms of consultants, attorneys, and others brought in to support school leaders.

These are our goals and the tools we use to support schools.

Our strategies are to partner with member schools and share tools and resources that help them make their schools safer from incidents. And also we help schools develop appropriate plans so they can respond to incidents in ways that minimize trauma and support survivor healing when they do occur.

Learning Courage offers the following to our member schools:
- Customized Action Plans based on self-assessments and Learning Courage’s assessment of risk and how to mitigate it;
- Training and education in both prevention and response for school leadership, faculty, staff, students and parents;
- Online resources, including model policies and procedures, assessment tools, and resources for school leaders, faculty and other constituents; and
- Tailored assistance to schools on crafting policies and procedures, developing action plans, troubleshooting specific school incidents, ensuring a survivor-centered response, building alignment between boards and school leaders, identifying experts for training and helping to shift school culture

By offering critical and tailored resources and assistance, Learning Courage fills a critical gap in schools’ preparedness to reduce and respond to child sexual abuse. Furthermore, relating well-informed, responsive, and accountable environments within schools can have positive efforts in child sexual abuse prevention and response beyond school walls.

Learning Courage currently has 4 member schools, impacting more than 2,000 students. Our model has been received with strong enthusiasm in the education field. Our impact would be greater, with more member schools if it weren’t for the global pandemic. Evidence suggests, however, that school leaders will be able to refocus and re-allocate their budgets after the Coronavirus is no longer a threat to school safety.
This past summer (2020), Learning Courage published sample content on best practices to its website, which serves as an example of the type of online resources that will continue to be published and offered to partner schools. We have shifted focus from gaining additional members to continuing to develop our website and content. One example of this shift is a podcast recorded with United Educators, one of the country’s leading insurance underwriters. The focus of this podcast is understanding the sexual misconduct risks inherent in remote education.