Prevent Together Blog!

Check out this blog by By Dawn Doran, Acting Director, Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking!

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Recognizing the ever-growing body of research on sex offenders and sexual offending, the Department of Justice's Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) Office developed the Sex Offender Management Assessment and Planning Initiative (SOMAPI). SOMAPI summarizes the current state of sex offender management research and practice and recommends steps to bolster the evidence behind certain strategies used to contain and manage this population.

The SOMAPI report provides an overview of the extent of sexual abuse in the U.S., explains what we know about the causes of this behavior and how we classify sex offenders, gives recidivism rates for different groups of offenders and reviews what we know about assessing, treating and managing adults and juveniles who commit sex offenses. Adults and juveniles differ significantly in their capacity to weigh the consequences of decisions and control their behavior — as well as their likelihood to reoffend — so the report is divided into two sections: what we know about adults and what we know about juveniles who commit sex crimes.

Highlights from the SOMAPI report show that most sexual offenses are not reported to law enforcement and, therefore, most sex crimes are not accounted for in official arrest and conviction rates. However, we do know that different types of sex offenders have markedly different reoffense rates. Overall rates of sexual recidivism range from 5 percent after three years to 24 percent after 15 years.

Circles of Safety: Safety Planning Through Healthy Sexuality Education Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Chicago, IL

Join ChicagoCAC for a full-day symposium on preventing child sexual abuse through the lens of healthy sexual development. Registration is limited and expected to sell out!

Protecting children from sexual abuse means understanding healthy sexuality across all stages of childhood. Through this training, you'll learn about sexual development in children and youth so that you can better discern expected and potentially concerning behaviors. We as providers, parents and caregivers are better able to foster safety and prevent child sexual abuse with this important knowledge.

This workshop focuses on preventing the sexual abuse of children through:

• discussion of developmentally expected sexual behaviors in pre-pubescent children
• raising awareness of the scope of sexual abuse and keys for prevention
• coaching participants on how to respond to behaviors and promote healthy relationships
• teaching valuable tools to take back to the children and families you serve

Where Is Dylan? is a new tool for preventing the sex trafficking of children in the form of a educational comic book. It was launched in April in New York City by ECPAT-USA in partnership with the Administration for Children’s Services, CauseVision and JCCA. Fifteen thousand copies will be distributed to at-risk youth throughout the City. 

The comic book focuses on the stories of two young people, a boy named Dylan and a girl named Ashley. It delivers a trafficking prevention message to them in a child-friendly format of pictures and simple vocabulary to capture their attention and make the material accessible to a wide range of reading levels. It is a mechanism for the engagement of NYC youth with a tough topic in a way that is empowering, thoughtful and educational. 

An educated child is the most practical and immediate deterrent to child sex trafficking. By providing preventive information in this format, the comic book can teach children and youth how to identify traffickers, identify recruitment techniques, and where they can get help. Most of the distribution will take place through New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services but copies are also available through ECPAT-USA. 

Contact ECPAT-USA at info@ecpatusa.org to inquire about how to receive copies.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health hosted the 2017 Moore Center Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Symposium was held on Thursday, April 27. Catch what you missed now via recordings!

Survivors and broader communities want the same things - safety in their homes and neighborhoods. Addressing sexual and domestic violence as a community problem can help shift norms away from victim-blaming and promote the role of communities in prevention. This web conference will explore the role of strong social networks, inclusion and community accountability in sexual and domestic violence prevention and highlight innovative local efforts. Join us to discuss how community level efforts to shift norms and practices for responding to incidents can also support prevention.

Register for this event at 2pmET/1pmCT/12pmMT/11amPT

HOST: Ashleigh Klein & Meghna Bhat, PreventConnect and CALCASA

FACILITATOR: Lisa Fujie Parks & Alisha Somji,  Prevention Institute

In this podcast, Anne Kirkner, Katherine Lorenz, and Shannon Harper  from the University of Illinois at Chicago talk about the role of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ breakups among adolescent relationships as possible risk and protective factors and presents teen dating violence prevention implications.

#PowerInPrevention Ending Child Sexual Abuse: A Practical View of the Role that Youth Serving Organizations Can Play in Preventing Child Sexual Abuse - Register!

Tuesday, May 23 at 2pmET / 1pmCT / 11amPT

High profile cases such as Sandusky in the US, and Savile in the UK led to many adopting the "stockade approach" to safeguarding their organizations. But the organizations responsible for our children and youth recognize that their role is about keeping them safe AND helping them learn, explore and grow in new ways. As a result, organizations need to do so much more than create a simple screening process (e.g., with criminal records). This session is an opportunity to hear from two experts from the US and the UK who will provide an understanding of the adults and youth at risk to sexually abuse. They also will address the "why" and the "how" of comprehensive and effective plans, practices and organizational culture change for youth serving organizations to best protect and support children.

HOST: David S. Lee, PreventConnect and CALCASA

CO-FACILITATORS: Cordelia Anderson & Joan Tabachnick

OBJECTIVES: Describe the role of youth serving organizations in ending child sexual abuse Identify where the risk most likely is in organizations Name three key elements of effective implementation of child sexual abuse prevention practices Identify two resources related to ending child sexual abuse in youth serving organizations

GUESTS: Les Nichols, MS, AIA, CPP, Consultant, former National VP, Child & Club Safety for Boys & Girls Clubs of America Marcus Erooga, MA (Econ.), AASW, Independent Safeguarding Consultant and Associate Editor, Journal of Sexual Aggression

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 28, 2017 - The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children issued the following statement from John F. Clark, NCMEC president and CEO in response to Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse Act:

As president and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, I know that protecting children and providing safe spaces for them to learn, play and grow is central to the mission of every youth-serving organization, including sports organizations. 

We believe that the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse Act will go a long way in protecting youth who participate in elite sports, so we are proud to lend our support to Senators Dianne Feinstein, Charles Grassley and all the other sponsors of this important legislation. 

Today’s hearing and press conference on the bill provides an opportunity to further the message that we all must empower parents and our communities to do more to ensure the safety of our children when they compete in sports or participate in other after school or weekend activities.

Because of our role as the nation’s clearinghouse on issues of missing and exploited children, NCMEC created “Safe to Compete” to provide access to resources to empower youth-sports organizations and the families of child athletes to protect those children from sexual abuse.  Anyone can go to www.safetocompete.org to get free resources, including tips for parents and age appropriate discussion guides to make conversations about safety easier. 

Cordelia Anderson, founder of Sensibilities Prevention Services, shared a heartfelt message about Patty Wetterling, founder of Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, in the wake of news regarding the disappearance of her son, Jacob.  For more details about the case, please click here.  Our hearts go out to the Wetterling family.

REGISTRATION OPEN  October 12-14, 2016   THIRD NATIONAL YOUTH PROTECTION SYMPOSIUM Working to Keep Kids Safe From Abuse Sheraton Suites Old Town Alexandria Alexandria, VA Across the nation, nonprofits are working to provide safe environments for youth. To support those efforts, the Boy Scouts of America is joining with youth-serving organizations from across the country for its third national symposium on the prevention of child sexual abuse. Join leaders from youth-serving organizations, schools, youth athletic organizations and faith communities, as well as top experts in the field of abuse prevention to: Learn about and discuss practices, training programs, policies, and initiatives that affect our programs Hear and learn from leading experts in the field of child sexual abuse Receive the latest in research articles and materials, including youth-serving organizations’ policies and training materials, and any materials handed out or discussed at the symposium Discuss prevention programs that are based on youth-serving organization experience, research, and evidence Develop strong relationships with other youth-serving organizations facing the same issues you face today REGISTER HERE: NYPS 2016 Registration Form   More information to follow, including featured speakers and the conference website.