This program is for youth in elementary school through college and for adults on military installations, in communities, faith-based agencies, and non-profit organizations.

Green Dot, a violence prevention and intervention program, is designed to change social norms related to violence, increase proactive bystander behaviors, reduce acts of personal violence, and promote safe communities.

Evaluations by program developers have been conducted of the High School and College versions of the Green Dot program.  Survey data from first-year students in a quasi-experimental evaluation on one college campus indicate that the intervention campus experienced lower rates of self-reported unwanted sexual victimization, sexual harassment, stalking, and psychological dating violence victimization and perpetration relative to two comparison campuses. However, there were no differences between intervention and comparison campuses in self-reported rates of coerced sex, physically forced sex, physical dating violence, or unwanted sexual perpetration.  Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial in 26 high schools indicate that intervention schools experienced lower rates of self-reported sexual violence perpetration and victimization and reductions in dating violence acceptance and sexual violence acceptance relative to comparison high schools. However, these results differed by gender and were generally strongest in year 3 of program implementation with some fading of effects in year 4.

Green Dot program participants are taught to recognize behaviors and scenarios that could lead to violence or abuse or that reinforce social norms that support violence, to engage in bystander behaviors that promote intolerance of violence, and to safely intervene in high-risk situations.  The program is implemented in two phases:  

1. Overview/Motivational Speech seeks to build awareness of the issue of personal violence, present proactive bystander behaviors, and motivate participants to become involved in prevention.
2. Intensive Bystander Training uses video, role-plays, and other interactive exercises to train student leaders to be proactive bystanders.

This program was originally developed for college students; however, adaptations have been made for different groups, including Green Dot for Kids (Kindergarten through grade 3; this version is not currently available for distribution), Green Dot for Middle School (Grades 6-8), Green Dot for High School (Grades 9-12), and Green Dot for Communities.  

Green Dot was first delivered in 2006 at the University of Kentucky.  Adaptations have been created to serve different sites, including the Air Force, native Alaskan communities, South African communities, Native American tribes, and women's trades organizations.  In 2017, Green Dot, Inc., adopted their new name of Alteristic.

This program is facilitated by professionals from schools, military installations, colleges, communities, faith-based organizations, and non-profits.  Training is mandatory, and facilitators attend a 4-day on- or off-site training delivered by program developers.  Please use details in the Contact section for more information.

Considerations for implementing this program include acquiring buy-in from facilitators, participants, administrators, and stakeholders; identifying professionals skilled in public speaking and group facilitation to become trained as certified instructors; recognizing this program could broach sensitive and difficult topics; understanding training and program costs could be expensive and will need to be funded; and locating space for program activities.

The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

If you are interested in implementing Green Dot, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

The overview/motivational speech is 50 minutes, and the bystander training ranges from 6 hours to a weekend retreat.

Program costs will vary depending on an organization's needs and the required level of implementation support. Please use details in the Contact section for more information on implementation costs.

To move the Green Dot program to the Effective category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one external evaluation must be conducted that demonstrates sustained, positive outcomes.  This study must be conducted independently of the program developer.

The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185      Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu

You may also contact Alteristic by mail 7955 Cameron Brown Ct., Springfield, VA 22153, phone 1-571-319-0354, email info@livethegreendot.com, or visit https://alteristic.org/info/

https://alteristic.org/services/green-dot/, https://www.crimesolutions.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?ID=509, and Coker et al. (2011).