Evidence-informed approaches enhance impact and innovation.
One of the features that makes Safe & Sound unique is its combination of direct service and community partnership with policy advocacy and research. Each of these areas inform each other to enhance our ability to strengthen families and communities.
We leverage data and community-informed research to drive continuous improvement, identify trends, inform policy and practice, and advocate for systems change.
Our data team collects information about how our programs are doing using CQIs, Continuous Quality Improvement metrics, so we can keep improving them forward. It means we regularly check what’s working well and what needs to change. By looking at this data, we can better understand our impact, spot any problems, and make smarter choices about how we speak up and advocate for the people we serve.
Safe & Sound’s Child Safety Awareness (CSA) program equips children with the knowledge and confidence to recognize unsafe situations, understand consent, and seek help when needed. Building on years of successful delivery in San Francisco schools, Safe & Sound has launched a new multi-year impact study to better understand how these lessons influence children’s attitudes and behaviors over time.
The study follows a consistent group of students from three San Francisco public schools who have participated in CSA lessons for several years—some since first grade. Each class takes pre- and post-surveys to assess shifts in students’ attitudes and behavioral norms of key safety principles like consent, the private body parts rule, and distinguishing safe versus unsafe touch. The study also incorporates teacher feedback to understand classroom-level dynamics.
Grounded in social impact theory, this project explores how children’s perceptions of their peers’ beliefs and behaviors shape their own attitudes toward safety. Previously, CSA outcomes were based on knowledge change that was measured immediately after lessons; this study expands that focus to examine medium-term changes in attitudes, norms, and behaviors. Following refinements to our data instruments and collection process, Safe & Sound anticipates sharing preliminary results in Summer 2026.
We believe the best insights come directly from the people we serve. That’s why we use participatory research and design practices to center the voices of children, families, and caregivers in everything we do. By co-creating our feedback tools and listening closely to lived experiences, we make sure we’re asking the right questions, focusing on what truly matters, and continuously improving our services in ways that honor the needs, strengths, and realities of our clients.
Our Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), composed of parent advocates who live, work, or have deep ties to these communities, is key to this. The PAC meets monthly to help inform organizational practices and ensure that diverse voices from the San Francisco community are effectively represented in our organization. The PAC provides continuous feedback and insights to Safe & Sound to align organizational programming and initiatives with community needs, ensuring our work is as responsive and relevant as possible. They also collaborate with us on the research development process and engage with the data team to establish the most valuable questions so that we can gain valuable, actionable data on the experiences of local families and their interactions with Safe & Sound.
We discussed this important topic of lived experience in our 2024 Lunch and Learn webinar series, recordings of which can be found on our events page.