Quarterly Insights From MACA

Welcome to MACA's Spring Quarterly Update! We're excited to share our recent developments, collaborations, and resources that continue to strengthen our mission of protecting and supporting children across Massachusetts.

June is Internet Safety Month

June marks Internet Safety Month—a vital time to focus on protecting children and families in our increasingly digital world. At the Massachusetts Children’s Alliance, we are committed to empowering caregivers, educators, and young people with the tools and knowledge they need to navigate the internet safely and confidently. Whether it's understanding online privacy, recognizing cyberbullying, or setting healthy screen time habits, this month is an opportunity to build stronger digital safety practices together.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) offers a wealth of resources to support families in safeguarding children online. The Take It Down service, a free and anonymous tool designed to help individuals remove or stop the online sharing of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit images or videos taken of them when they were under 18 years old. The service works by assigning a unique digital fingerprint, called a hash value, to the images or videos, allowing participating online platforms to detect and remove this content without the image or video ever leaving the user's device.

In addition, NCMEC operates the CyberTipline, a 24/7 reporting system for suspected child sexual exploitation. Individuals can report incidents online at report.cybertip.org or by calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). Trained analysts review each report and coordinate with law enforcement agencies to investigate and take appropriate action.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and Children's Advocacy Center of Suffolk County have developed Stop Block Talk: Empowering Youth to Stay Safe Online, a free Zoom webinar series for adults that explores the risks and rewards of popular social media apps, websites, and games that are most widely used by youth today. To learn more, click here.

Massachusetts has also taken legislative steps to enhance protections against online abuse. On June 20, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed into law An Act to Prevent Abuse and Exploitation, which criminalizes the non-consensual sharing of explicit images, including "deepfakes," and expands the definition of abuse to include coercive control.

The law also introduces educational initiatives aimed at informing young people about the dangers of sexting and digital exploitation.

We encourage all families, educators, and community members to explore these resources and take proactive steps toward safer digital habits. By working together, we can create a more secure and supportive online environment for children across Massachusetts.

Our 15th Annual Conference

The Massachusetts Children’s Alliance proudly hosted its 15th Annual Statewide Conference, Healing, Hope & Justice: An Advanced Conversation, on May 8, 2025, bringing together more than 300 professionals dedicated to protecting and supporting children impacted by abuse. Held at the Sheraton Framingham, this milestone gathering offered a dynamic platform for multidisciplinary teams—ranging from forensic interviewers to prosecutors, mental health clinicians, child protection staff, and law enforcement—to share expertise, strengthen partnerships, and explore promising practices in the field.

We were honored to present our One With Courage Award to Lisa Goldblatt Grace, co-founder and former Executive Director of My Life My Choice, for her visionary leadership that continues to drive survivor-led solutions to the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

Attendees had access to more than a dozen advanced workshops covering some of the most pressing and complex issues in the field. Topics ranged from peer-on-peer sexual abuse and trauma-informed engagement of high-risk youth to forensic interviewing of non-verbal children, rural and familial trafficking, and the use of generative AI in exploitation.

Workshops on immigration, safety planning, sibling sexual abuse, and NCA accreditation also offered practical tools for professionals navigating today’s evolving challenges. This wide-ranging content ensured every attendee left with new strategies to enhance practice and drive meaningful systemic change.

The success of the day was made possible thanks to our incredible workshop presenters, dedicated planning committee, and generous sponsors. The energy, expertise, and commitment shared throughout the day reaffirmed the collective strength of our community. As we mark this 15-year milestone, MACA remains deeply committed to advancing the work of our 12 Children’s Advocacy Centers and equipping those on the frontlines with the knowledge and tools to protect children and promote healing across the Commonwealth.

Our 2024 Annual Report is Here

This year’s report reflects incredible progress across our statewide network, highlighting innovations in trauma-informed care, advancements in data and training, and the unwavering commitment of Massachusetts’ 12 Children’s Advocacy Centers to improving outcomes for children and families impacted by abuse.

We’re so grateful to our partners, funders, and multidisciplinary teams who make this work possible. Together, we are building a stronger, more responsive system of care across the Commonwealth.

Click here to read our annual report.

Upcoming Trainings

PSB Learning Cohort #5

Nearly a quarter of cases handled by CACs involve youth or children under the age of 18 acting out against another child. The PSB-CBT Training Cohort serves a critical purpose in ensuring an appropriate response by all systems charged with intervention; this is critical to the safety and well-being of child victims, the child with PSBs, and any other children impacted by the behavior and response.

This training cohort also introduces an important educational component to Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) and Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) partners to gain recognition of PSBs among youth. A priority of the collaborative is to train clinicians in evidence-based treatment and equip them to develop and implement effective responses that ensure the physical and psychological safety of all children and their families at the CAC.

Here are the upcoming dates in 2025 for the PSB Learning Cohort #5:

Learning Session #1 - August 20-22, 2025 (In person)
Learning Session #2 - October 27-29, 2025 (In person)

If you would like to learn more about the Learning Cohort, please email our Service Navigator, Christina, at cpaskewicz@machildrensalliance.org.

Keeping Kids Safe and Secure Online: A Project Safe Childhood Presentation for Parents

The United States Attorney’s Office will be hosting a virtual internet safety presentation for all adults who wish to keep children safe online. Assistant United States Attorney Luke Goldworm and Victim Witness Specialist Lauryn Mackey will be joined by Special Agent Andrew Kelleher from Homeland Security Investigations Child Exploitation and Digital Forensics Unit are presenting.

Wednesday, June 4th from 6:30 – 7:30 pm.

A Q & A session will follow the presentation. The presentation will bring awareness to how predators are sexually exploiting children online and how to keep them safe.

Advanced registration is required. Click here to register and learn more.

If you are interested in hearing about future training opportunities or any legislative alerts on behalf of MACA, hit the subscribe button below or visit:

machildrensalliance.org/subscribe.

Our mission is to pioneer the most promising, leading-edge ways that help victims of child abuse

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Your support will:

Ensure services for the nearly 7,000 children served annually.
Promote a trauma-informed response for children affected by physical and sexual abuse.
Provide the latest, most advanced trainings to professionals.
Advocate for child victims at the state and federal level.

Individuals Behind the Work

To view our Individuals Behind the Work video series, click here.

MASSACHUSETTS CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE

11 Beacon Street, Suite 321

Boston, MA 02108

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