As COVID pushed us all to explore new ways to share information while building new connections and networks, we found ourselves positioned well to transfer our prevention training services into the digital world and began offering Circles of Safety trainings remotely last fall. Since October 2020, we have completed 8 COS: Awareness to Action classes and 6 COS: Training of Trainer classes. Over 20 organizations from around the country have been represented, including Child Advocacy Centers, Child Protection Services and Sexual Assault Response Programs. Our participants are reporting increased readiness and confidence in taking next steps to both engage in early protective tasks and to respond to early warning signs of boundary violations. 

Knowing the importance of sharing widely our tools and insight specific to sexual abuse prevention, we do frequently strive to present at relevant conferences. With Covid moving most conferences to digital platforms, we were excited to present for the National Child Advocacy Center’s series: Keeping Kids Safe: Ask the Experts. Our director was the guest for “A conversation about boundaries and consent with Jenny Coleman,” to a registered audience of over 400! You can watch this presentation on their virtual training center.

We also were pleased to have another chance to present on prevention, Circles of Safety: Integrating Sexual Abuse Prevention into Early Childhood Care and Education in a recorded webinar to the National Coalition for Campus Children's Centers (N4C). It also felt particularly powerful to deliver a presentation on Why We Should Care About the Person Who is At-risk To Harm a Child to the Attorney General’s Office in Hennepin County in Michigan.

Helping other similar Helplines get off the ground has always been one of our most fulfilling services, and we have been thrilled to provide this support and training to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, a psychiatric teaching hospital located in Toronto. The hospital will be bringing a similar helpline service to support people whose sexual behaviors and/or interests that might put children at risk.

We’re thrilled that the World Childhood Foundation awarded us a grant to reach young people with new resources to answer their questions and concerns about safe and healthy sexual behaviors and interests. We are developing a new website, with a partner campaign to reach 14-to-21-year-olds, providing a shame-free, safe and informative source for support.

The Focus for Health Foundation has recently become a new and exciting partner in our prevention work, awarding us a grant to support our overall services and operations. We are pleased to join their diverse and innovative partners.

We have been pleased to partner with the Prostasia Foundation to offer support services to those who personally identify as minor-attracted, are committed to healthy and safe lives and who seek out community to find resources, guidance, and information.

Invited to submit a capacity-building grant to our long-time partner and funding, The Oak Foundation, we in turn partnered with Stop It Now! UK and Scotland and together we have been awarded a grant to study the evolution of the Stop It Now! model in both the US and its European sisters in the UK, Belgium, and The Netherlands. Additionally, the Oak funding will allow us to build on our public policy work in prevention.

When Jeff Tjugman of TJUGUM & ASSOCIATES, INC. in Wisconsin contacted Stop It Now! to ask how his insurance agency could help our work, we described the need for increased capacity on our Helpline - to expand our hours and be available to more people. Jeff responded with a plan for future income to support our Helpline and with more immediate funding to help support a new staff member. We are excited to soon increase our ability to take more calls and chats at the moment people are reaching out for help. More to come on this exciting partnership!

In late 2020, Stop It Now! was hired by the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts to collect and report on the voices of survivors of clergy abuse, the most important group of stakeholders as the Diocese of Springfield seeks to improve the response to sexual abuse allegations. The Independent Task Force on the Response to Sexual Abuse within the Diocese of Springfield will include this information in their final report which will be released in June. We are especially proud to have met these survivors and been trusted with their stories. Their courage has already led to change in the ways the Diocese prevents and responds to abuse. 

Susan Kirby, a former board member and generous supporter of Stop It Now!, passed away on December 27, 2019. In recognition of her longtime commitment to Stop It Now! and preventing child sexual abuse, her family and Stop It Now! are honoring her memory with a memorial fund.

We are sad to say goodbye to Lily Lawrence, our administrative and communications associate for nearly 10 years. Lily has been the glue that held all of our programs and services together. She feels irreplaceable and as we are already missing her, we wish her the very best in her travels…and we’ll particularly miss her during office game days!

And we welcome Brittany Gordon, a new Now! member who will split her time between her Helpline counselor role and project manager role. Brittany is a PhD candidate, with experience in sexual assault responses, domestic violence, hotlines and a passion for social justice, education and service.