PEI Kids Hosts Annual Meeting of the Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - Oct. 16, 2015 - PRLog -- Lawrenceville, NJ – October 19, 2015 –On Wednesday morning, October 28, PEI Kids – lead agency for the statewide and national Enough Abuse campaign in Mercer County – will hold its Annual Meeting of the Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse at Rider University.  The Enough Abuse campaign consists of a community education initiative which provides free community workshops to teach ordinary citizens how to prevent, identify, and respond appropriately to child sexual abuse; and the Coalition -- consisting of more than 25 Mercer County organizations -- provides direction, strategies, and resources to advance the campaign’s prevention work and to advocate for child safety in Mercer County.

The meeting agenda includes an educational component consisting of presentations by Dr. Juanita Johnson-Brooks, Clinical Director of PEI Kids’ counseling program for child victims of sexual abuse and Rush Russell, Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse NJ which recently developed Child-Safety Standards adopted by the State of New Jersey’s Department of Children & Families.   “Members and invited guests will leave the meeting with insight on how to make our community safer for children as well as actionable information which they can use to begin making a difference in their communities right away,” says Roslyn Dashiell, Executive Director of PEI Kids.

The Enough Abuse campaign is a community mobilization and citizen education effort which was funded under the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s first grant program to prevent child sexual abuse. The campaign launched in Massachusetts in 2003 with resources provided by a $1.2 million CDC grant to support a five-year effort. Since that time, that campaign has grown to include six states, including California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York.

“The Enough Abuse campaign is truly a community-driven initiative to prevent child sexual abuse by providing quality educational workshops to local community members using the Enough Abuse curriculum and by developing a coordinated community response through the local Coalition to advance prevention efforts,” says Dashiell.  The mission of the Greater Mercer Coalition is twofold: One, to educate every adult who lives and/or works in the Greater Mercer community on how to keep children safe from sexual abuse, to recognize the signs of possible abuse, and to respond appropriately; Two, to advocate and assist Mercer County businesses, institutions and child-serving organizations to have appropriate sexual abuse prevention policies.  The campaign has trained over 1,500 Mercer County adults in how to prevent, recognize and respond appropriately to child sexual abuse since 2012.

To learn more about PEI Kids and the Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse, visit www.peikids.org.  To learn more about the national Enough Abuse campaign, visit www.enoughabuse.org.  Organizations interested in attending the Annual Meeting, hosting an Enough Abuse workshop, or joining the Coalition should contact PEI Kids at 609-695-3739.

About PEI Kids
Since 1985, PEI Kids’ mission has been dedicated to promoting and maintaining a safe environment for all children by providing Prevention/Education and Intervention programs relating to personal safety; sexual abuse; bullying, juvenile crime prevention, and the overall well-being of the child. Currently serving approximately 14,000 children and their families annually, PEI Kids is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit provides school-based prevention programs reaching over 13,000 students, teachers and parents.  PEI Kids’ intervention services include crisis counseling for child victims of sexual abuse as well as anger management and juvenile offender diversion programs for adjudicated youth and prevention programs at-risk youth. Since 2011, PEI Kids has been the lead agency for Greater Mercer Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse which spearheads the Enough Abuse Campaign in Mercer County  -- an effort which has trained over 1,500 Mercer County adults in how to prevent, recognize and respond appropriately to child sexual abuse.  PEI Kids also provides transportation and supervised visitation for children in foster care and their families.To learn more about PEI Kids and how you can support their work, please call 609-695-3739 or visit www.peikids.org.