Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES will receive $40,000 from the state Education Department to develop programs to prevent child abductions.

The state Education Department awarded $160,000 in Child Abduction Prevention Education grants to four school districts and three consortia of school districts and BOCES. The money will be used to develop or adopt curriculum and training programs designed for kindergarten through eighth grade students, parents, teachers, school librarians, and support staff to aid in the prevention of child abduction.

State Education Law requires public schools to provide courses of study in prevention of child abduction to all pupils in kindergarten through eighth grades. CAPE grants assist in development or adoption of these programs, as well as in training teachers, parents, school librarians and support staff. New York State public school districts, BOCES, and consortia thereof were eligible to apply.

Plans submitted include strategies to address a wide range of issues impacting students and families including cyberbullying, social media harassment, child trafficking and predatory behavior. Among the outreach districts plan are regional teacher training, webinars available to teachers, parents and community-based partners, and “parent nights” to raise awareness of information and training available.

Awardees may adopt existing curricula or develop their own. The curriculum, whether existing or developed, must provide developmentally appropriate content to meet the diverse needs of students, parents and school personnel. Professional learning resources, curriculum, online learning courses or materials created with grant funds must be published on the district or BOCES’ websites to be freely shared with other districts.

Each eligible applicant could apply for a maximum award of $10,000. Consortia are allowed to pool their money, so their allocation would be the total of the participating district/BOCES allocations, not to exceed $40,000. The grant term runs through Aug. 31, 2019