The CARES program aimed to increase student knowledge of the prevalence of dating and sexual violence on campus, while providing a deeper understanding of how traumatic experiences impact survivors. Along with this goal, CARES intended to prepare students to be effective peer supports for anyone experiencing interpersonal violence.
Rutgers CARES was created by the Rutgers-New Brunswick VPVA staff and is an acronym for Creating Allies to provide Resources and Empower Survivors. The goal of the CARES program was to increase awareness and knowledge of dating and sexual violence issues, in addition to helping student peers support and informally respond to survivors of interpersonal violence at Rutgers.
Program evaluation of the RU CARES project started in 2019. Over 300 students were surveyed about their knowledge, empathy, and confidence with supporting campus dating and sexual violence survivors as a result of attending the CARES program. Overall, the program has been shown very effective for increasing student knowledge and awareness of campus resources to report sexual violence and resources to support a peer who may disclose survivorship. RU CARES has also been shown to significantly improve students’ empathy toward survivors of campus dating and sexual violence, as well as their confidence in their ability to provide effective peer support to survivors.
Evaluation surveys asked about participants’ perceived knowledge of IPV, ability to get assistance on Rutgers campus if the participant or a friend experienced IPV and understanding of Rutgers procedures for dealing with reported incidences of IPV before and after the training.
The purpose of this evaluation was to assess student knowledge, awareness, and confidence after attending the RUTGERS CARES training provided through the Rutgers University New Brunswick’s victim services office (VPVA), in the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. This evaluation is one of many efforts to examine the effectiveness of the programs and services implemented as part of the AG VOCA project.