An evaluation of a child welfare training program on the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)

•We evaluate the effectiveness of a CSEC webinar training program for CPS employees.•Findings show that the CSEC training improved CSEC beliefs and knowledge.•We did not find an increase in children referred to a CSEC service organization.•Child welfare agencies should use a similar training to improve CSEC beliefs/knowledge.

With the growing awareness of the nature and scope of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the United States, a few state child welfare agencies have started to develop and implement training on CSEC for their social service staff. Since other state child welfare agencies may adopt a similar training model, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of these CSEC trainings. Therefore, in the present study, we used a randomized, control group design to evaluate the effectiveness of a CSEC webinar training program for child protective service (CPS) employees. We discuss our findings and make recommendations for child welfare agencies interested in providing CSEC training to their staff. Given the lack of sophisticated research evaluating the effectiveness of child welfare training programs, in general, and CSEC training programs, more specifically, this study fills a gap in the literature and offers a training model that could be replicated with child protection systems in other states.