Contact Us

Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment
University of South Dakota – Sioux Falls
4801 N Career Avenue
Sioux Falls, SD 57107
Office Hours

Monday - Friday
8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment at USD provides statewide services and resources to eliminate child sexual abuse and child maltreatment in South Dakota.

Our organizational goals are based on the results from the Jolene's Law Task Force and Coalition, a legislative task force charged with studying the prevalence and impact of child sexual abuse in the state. We use evidence-based practice and data metrics in our planning and development, including consultation from state experts in:

  • Child welfare
  • Health
  • Social welfare
  • Law enforcement
  • Education
  • American Indian communities
  • Center Goals

Our six primary goals include:

  1. Creating a single-point data agency to collect information for providers and monitor instances of child maltreatment in South Dakota
  2. Helping all South Dakota communities respond to people impacted by child maltreatment
  3. Providing training resources for mandatory reporters in South Dakota and developing curriculum within colleges and universities
  4. Helping victims, their families and professionals navigate the criminal justice system in South Dakota
  5. Supporting public awareness campaigns that focus on ending child maltreatment in South Dakota
  6. Developing strong working relationships between local, tribal, state and national agencies

Faculty & Staff

Get to know the faculty and staff of the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment.
Bio Image for Faculty Member Christina Young

Christina Young

Director-CPCM
Bio Image for Faculty Member Darla Biel

Darla Biel

Assistant Director-CPCM
Faculty Default

Beth Bruggeman

Program Coordinator
Faculty Default

Brandi Miller

Program Specialist
Bio Image for Faculty Member Alex Van Voorhis

Alex Van Voorhis

Program Coordinator

End Online Child Abuse

CPCM was formed due to reporting from Jolene’s Law Task Force. Their final report, released in 2017, found that child sexual abuse was a serious issue in our state. We also know that our world has experienced many, big changes since 2017. For example: 

  -  Roblox, a popular online gaming platform, with 60% of users being 16 or younger had 48 million users in March 2017 and over 300 million users in May 2023. 
  -  TikTok, an online sharing platform was launched in 2018. Research last year found 62% of teens ages 13-17 use the platform. 
  -  In 2016 there was 83,967 CyberTips concerning child sexual exploitation forwarded to - Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces nationally. By 2021, that number had increased to 371,515 CyberTips concerning child sexual exploitation. 
  -  Last year, SD Internet Crimes Against Children received 1,383 cybertips, conducted 643 investigations, and examined 189,207 gigabytes, resulting in 58 arrests.

CPCM is developing sustainable solutions to reduce all forms of child maltreatment in South Dakota, beginning with child sexual abuse. Online child sexual abuse IS child sexual abuse.