An interventional study of The Set Me Free Project's (SMFP) READY to Stand (RTS)© Curriculum in Sex Trafficking, Sex Crimes and Commercial Sex, sponsored by University of Michigan. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 13 Years to 19 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-13.
Sponsored by University of Michigan · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
The overall goal of this project is to conduct both a process and rigorous outcome evaluation of The Set Me Free Project (SMFP)'s READY to Stand (RTS)© curriculum with an eye toward widespread dissemination to other U.S. communities, if deemed effective. Broadly, the investigators seek to determine the effect participation has on students: reductions in commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) perpetration (the primary outcome); reductions in CSEC victimization, teen dating violence (TDV), and sexual violence victimization and perpetration; as well as increases in bystander intervention in CSEC situations compared to participants in the control condition (secondary outcomes). Process evaluation components include fidelity monitoring, post session surveys, and exit interviews. The methodology includes a community-based RCT in which youth (N=400-600) are randomly assigned to the treatment (RTS) or attention control condition (nutrition program).
The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a public health crisis in the United States. Research has documented risk and protective factors across the social ecology for CSEC, that many perpetrators (traffickers, clients, recruiters) of CSEC are peers (e.g., romantic partners) and adolescents report opportunities to intervene in situations of peer victimization (although not necessarily specific to CSEC). Prevention efforts with adolescents that seek to (1) reduce risk for CSEC perpetration; (2) reduce risk for CSEC victimization; and (3) increase positive bystander intervention in situations of CSEC is urgently needed. Thus, the goal of this multi-stakeholder collaboration-which includes researchers, educators, practitioners, and youth-is to conduct both a process and rigorous outcome evaluation of The Set Me Free Project© (SMFP)'s READY to Stand (RTS)© curriculum-with an eye toward widespread dissemination to other U.S. communities, if deemed effective.
The RTS programming is for teens. The teen programming includes six, 45-minute modules implemented in a community-based model. Each cohort will be mixed gender groups of 50 students teens and provides students them with CSEC psychoeducation, healthy relationship skills, identification of safe people, bystander intervention in CSEC situations, shifting school norms to be intolerant of all forms of violence, and valuing of self and others. Despite its potential for reducing CSEC, the RTS© has never been evaluated.
The investigators will conduct an community-based RCT study in which enrolled youth (N=400-600)will be randomly assigned to the RTS condition or an attention control condition (nutrition program). Youth will complete baseline and immediate post, 6- and 12-month follow-up surveys to test the hypothesis that participation in the RTS© program will lead to reductions in CSEC perpetration (primary outcome), as well as reductions in CSEC victimization and teen dating violence (TDV) and sexual violence victimization and perpetration, and increases in bystander intervention in CSEC situations compared to participants in the control condition (secondary outcomes). The investigators will assess mediators and demographic moderators of program impact. Document via program observations of programming, post-session surveys, and post program implementation of key informant and stakeholder interviews, variations in implementation, unanticipated challenges, lessons learned, and perceptions of program impact. Determine costs associated with the program implementation (both student and school personnel programming) to inform future economic evaluation of the RTS.
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(1) are ages 13-19; (2) reside in the greater Des Moines/Polk County community; and (3) are able to understand spoken English.
Exclusion Criteria:
READY to Stand© curriculum
Behavioral: The Set Me Free Project's (SMFP) READY to Stand (RTS)© Curriculum
Nutritional workshop delivered by a dietician
Behavioral: The Set Me Free Project's (SMFP) READY to Stand (RTS)© Curriculum
Teens will receive six modules of the Ready to Stand (RTS)© programming over one day on a weekend. There will be four cohorts over two weekends. The program is delivered in mixed-gender groups of 30-50 teens and includes videos, small and large group discussions, activities, worksheets, and ample opportunities for skill-building. This curriculum is intended to be one piece of comprehensive prevention strategies that has the potential to make immediate and sustained impacts on reducing rates of CSEC perpetration in the lives of youth, including those most vulnerable to this pernicious crime.
Also known as: RTS©
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)-Perpetration Experiences
Behaviorally worded items to assess students' self-reports of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) victimization perpetration; answers are binary (Yes/No) with an option not to answer. Scale information: items are summed and used to create two variables, one indicating if a student has ever experienced these activities and the other indicating if a student has experienced these activities in the past 1 or 6 months (1-month time frame utilized at baseline, 6-month time frame utilized for all follow ups). Higher scores indicate worse outcomes.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)-Bystander Opportunity and Action
Response options range from 0 to "10 or more" with an option to not answer. If participants report "one or more times" they are then asked how many times they took the specified actions. Eleven actions are listed, two of which are negative behaviors, such as doing nothing, with the other nine actions being positive behaviors, such as trying to stop the situation. For each positive action, students' responses are re-coded into a binary variable where 0=did not take action and 1=did take action. For each negative item, responses are reverse-scored. Items are then summed to create an overall score that could range from 2 to 7, with a higher score indicating better outcomes.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)-Victimization Experiences
Behaviorally worded items to assess students' self-reports of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) victimization; answers are binary (Yes/No) with an option not to answer. Scale information: items are summed and used to create two variables, one indicating if a student has ever experienced these activities and the other indicating if a student has experienced these activities in the past month. Higher scores indicate worse outcomes.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Dating and Sexual Violence Victimization
Dating and sexual violence victimization will be assessed using items adapted from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA). Items assess sexual violence, physical dating violence, psychological dating violence, and controlling behavior. Participants report the frequency of each experience during the specified assessment period, with higher scores indicating greater frequency of victimization.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Dating and Sexual Violence Perpetration
Dating and sexual violence perpetration will be assessed using items adapted from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA). Items assess sexual violence, physical dating violence, psychological dating violence, and controlling behavior. Participants report the frequency of each behavior during the specified assessment period, with higher scores indicating greater frequency of perpetration.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Knowledge
Researcher created items to assess knowledge about sex trafficking (that aligns with the student programming being received). This measure is comprised of 19 items across four subscales. For each subscale, a total score is calculated by taking the mean of the items. The mean is the proportion of items answered correctly; scores can range from 0-1, with a higher score indicating better outcomes.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 2 (~2 weeks post-program), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Valuing of Self and Others
Researcher created items to assess the extent to which students value themselves and others. Items were created based on positive youth development and dignity literature. Items comprise two subscales, one on self-value and the next on the value of others, each with eight statements. Participants are asked to rate the statements on a scale from "strongly disagree" (1) to "strongly agree" (4). One item in each section was reverse coded. Scores for the subscales were calculated by taking the average of the subscale items, with higher scores indicating better outcomes.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 2 (~2 weeks post-program), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Sexual Consent
Items adapted from Ewing et al., 2022 to assess attitudes towards sexual consent. Answer options included Strongly disagree (1) / Disagree (2) / Agree (3) / Strongly agree (4). Higher scale scores reflect more positive / healthier attitudes towards sexual consent.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 2 (approximately 3 months post-baseline), Time 3 (six months post-baseline), Time 4 (twelve months post-baseline, Time 5 (eighteen months post-baseline)
Bystander Readiness to Help
The Denial Subscale of the Bystander Readiness to Help measure: participants rate five statements on a scale from "strongly disagree" (4) to "strongly agree" (1), with an option not to answer. The composite score is the mean of the five items, with higher scores indicating better outcomes.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 2 (~2 weeks post-program), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Social Norms
This scale is composed of a series of statements that gauged personal beliefs, perceptions of friends, and perceptions of other teens in the city, regarding their beliefs on sex trafficking. Participants rate statements on a scale from "strongly disagree" (1) to "strongly agree" (4), with an option not to answer. Items are summed, with higher scores indicating better outcomes.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 2 (~2 weeks post-program), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Prevention Related Conversations with Adults
Items to assess conversations (from students' perspectives) with adults about healthy relationships, valuing self and others, healthy relationship skills, sex trafficking, dating violence, and bystander intervention; participants rate statements on a scale from "strongly disagree" (1) to "strongly agree" (4), with an option not to answer. Items are summed, with higher scores indicating more frequent conversations with adults.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 2 (~2 weeks post-program), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Online Risk Behaviors
Items adapted from the UNH Technology Facilitated Abuse Survey and Global Kids Online Survey to assess online safety behaviors; participants report how often they engaged in these behaviors in the past month on a scale from "never" (0) to "several times each day" (5), with an option not to answer. Higher scores indicate more frequent engagement in potentially risky online behaviors.
Time frame: Time 1 (baseline), Time 2 (~2 weeks post-program), Time 3 (six months post-program), and Time 4 (12 months post-program)
Plan to share: Yes — The level of public access will be restricted such that the data set will be available under certain use restrictions. More specifically, the PI intends to share the aggregated, de-identified quantitative survey data if users commit to the following: (a) using the data only for research purposes and not to identify any individual participant; (b) securing the data using appropriate computer technology; and (c) destroying or returning the data after analyses are completed. If the researcher agrees, in writing, to these stipulations, the PI will send the approved researcher the dataset prepared using SPSS 27.0 (or the latest version available). The prepared data set will not include identifying information about participants, schools, or Des Moines Public Schools. Research participants will be identified by number. Schools will be coded as a number so as not to identify the participating schools/district.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form, Clinical study report, Analytic code
Time frame: Data will be made available likely around fall 2027. It will be made available indefinitely.
Access criteria: See above in Plan Description.
Started Jul 2024 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Aug 2027, 36 months after the start.
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