uSafeUS was developed when a retired NH state trooper and program coordinator for NH’s Sexual Assault Resource Teams (SART) mentioned the idea to PIRC co-director Sharyn Potter. Dr. Potter lead the development of the app, and collaborated with community and campus professionals (e.g., law enforcement, crisis center advocates, Title IX officers) across the state to develop the app. Focus groups were administered with over 200 NH college students to ensure the app’s appropriateness for the target audience.22 colleges and universities across New Hampshire are currently using uSafeUS. The list includes public and private institutions of higher education, residential and nonresidential colleges, and community colleges.

uSafeUS is a platform for college and university prevention and response efforts. uSafeUS supports and strengthens campus existing prevention and response programs and gives campus administrators better control over the information available to students from involved organizations like the campus Title IX office, hospitals and wellness centers, campus and local crisis centers, and public safety officials. Theories of community readiness to engage in prevention, community responsibility and bystander behavior emphasize the importance of a larger community response toward preventing sexual and intimate partner violence. uSafeUS focuses on expanding this awareness to the larger community by not solely focusing on intervening on potential victims or perpetrators. Instead, the app provides groups of individuals in the community with the skills and knowledge to intervene by interrupting situations before or during an incident, speaking out against social norms supportive of sexual and intimate partner violence, and being an ally of those victimized.

uSafeUS builds on research conducted by the University of New Hampshire’s Prevention Innovations Research Center (PIRC), and is both research-and trauma-informed. Focus groups were held with over 200 NH college students over the course of the app’s development. An internationally recognized research center, PIRC focuses on sexual and relationship violence and stalking prevention and response. PIRC has received a number of national and international awards for this work.

Over the course of the development of the app, local providers from crisis centers and the New Hampshire State Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence provided feedback for the app and helped to inform and design two of the uSafeUS resource features, “Helpful Answers” and “What Now.”

Prevention Innovation Research Center helps universities and colleges build capacity to comply with VAWA by partnering with institutions to develop strategies, create comprehensive prevention programs and implement programs that meet the unique needs of each campus community.

Prevention Innovations Research Center helps universities and colleges build capacity to comply with the recent changes to Title IX and the Campus SaVE Act by partnering with institutions to develop strategies, create comprehensive prevention programs and implement programs that meet the unique needs of each campus community.

uSafeUS was developed with a formative evaluation strategy. Feedback was solicited and received from students, campus administrators, crisis center educators and advocates and law enforcement professionals. The feedback was incorporated into uSafeUS and it is currently being evaluated.

The uSafeUS license fee is dependent on the number of years campuses sign-up the app and the size of the student body. Campuses who sign a 3-year contract pay a lower fee than campuses that sign a 1-year contract.

Prevention Innovations Research Center helps universities and colleges build capacity to create, administer and implement comprehensive prevention programs and response strategies that meet the unique needs of each campus community.