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The Juvenile Justice Fund’s (JJF) Community Collaboratives make a difference in the metro Atlanta community.

Community Collaborative Projects include:

A Future. Not a Past.
A Future. Not a Past. is a campaign to stop the prostitution of children in Georgia by building a barrier between our children and those who seek to harm them through commercial sexual exploitation. We are building this barrier through prevention, intervention, education — and by making the prostitution of children less profitable for pimps and more costly and embarrassing for Johns who seek out children for sex. Visit www.afuturenotapast.org for campaign updates.

Together we will:

• Increase prosecutions of adults who exploit our children
• Recognize children are the true victims of this illicit practice
• Make Georgia a “no-tolerance zone” for child prostitution

Raising Awareness
A recent statewide survey of Georgians shows this problem is not widely understood. On average in the seven largest Georgia cities, half of people polled felt drug and alcohol abuse was the most significant issue facing our youth, followed by child abuse and a distant third was child prostitution.
(Independent survey conducted by Metis Associates and Booth Research, 2008)

By the Numbers:
The prostitution of Georgia children knows no racial, economic or geographic boundaries. An independent, ongoing study commissioned by A Future. Not A Past, finds:

• More than 250 adolescent girls are sexually exploited in Georgia each month on the streets, through escort services, and online
• On a busy night, as many as 109 girls are prostituted through those same channels
• 65% of men who inquire about erotic services ads on Craigslist.org are responsive to listings that specifically offer ’young females.‘

Success to Date: State Level Attention
Your voice makes the difference! In response to public outcry the Georgia General Assembly recently funded a regional assessment center to assist victims. When adolescent girls who are suspected victims of commercial sexual exploitation can receive free, short-term residential assessment services they begin healing. Strong, healthy girls on the road to recovery can tell their stories and help put their exploiters behind bars. Additional comprehensive policy changes will result from a legislative study commission on the commercial sexual exploitation of minors.

Volunteer Opportunities
Eliminating child prostitution must be a team effort. Achieving this ambitious goal is too much for any one of us alone. Rather than any one volunteer trying to go the whole distance personally, we plan to break the many tasks ahead into manageable chunks using a “relay race” model of volunteer engagement.

Community Collaboratives: Volunteer Opportunities
Event	Description
Lighting Up the Future Fundraiser	Event proceeds go towards scholarship for survivors on the road to a new future.
Lobby Day at the Capitol	When we speak directly with members of the General Assembly with one voice we can make systems change.

A Future. Not A Past. holds quarterly trainings orienting community members who want to help to the issue. We ask each volunteer trained for a 3 month commitment to raise awareness about the problem in their sphere of influence. As your commitment ends, invite a new recruit to take up the next “leg” of the race.

Know Someone Who Needs Help?
Adolescent girls suspected of commercial sexual exploitation are now eligible for free, short-term residential assessment services. Victims identified in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties are eligible for services.

Regional Assesment Center 24-Hour Information and Referral 770.370.4312

Statewide Tip Line 404.577.8477

Ending the prostitution of children depends on increasing the number of exploiters who are brought to justice.

Reports of suspected criminal activity related to the commercial sexual exploitation of minors can be made anonymously through the Statewide Tip Line.

If your tip leads to an arrest, you may be eligible for a cash reward up to $5,000

How Can You Help?

If you would like to receive more information on A Future. Not a Past., please contact:

Ms. Kaffie McCullough
Program Manager
404.224.4566
Kaffie.McCullough@FultonCountyGA.gov

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Child Abuse Case Tracking Information System (CACTIS)
In 2006, JJF, in partnership with the Fulton County Children’s Advocacy Center, launched a new customized computerized Child Abuse Case Tracking Information System, known as CACTIS. No longer would each agency have independent arsenals of information on children and families in which to harbor fractions of information and family histories. Now, all agencies input information into one collaborative case file that facilitates a team response and ultimately increases information sharing and communication among DFCS, police, prosecution, advocates, healthcare providers, educators, and courts. Not sharing information can lead to further abuse, or even the prosecution of an innocent family. These are decisions that affect children and their families forever.

CACTIS won the TechBridge Technology Innovation Award on May 5, 2007. The award, $46,000 in technological services, products, and cash, is given every year to a tech-savvy nonprofit at the Digital Ball, one of the biggest technology events in Atlanta.

Shortly after the TechBridge Award, the Georgia Legislature appropriated $250,000 to The Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia to implement CACTIS statewide.

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Atlanta Fulton Family Connection (AFFC)
In July 2007, JJF began serving as the fiscal agent and providing staff coordination for the Atlanta-Fulton Family Connection (AFFC) partnership. AFFC supports grassroots organizations as a collaboration of resources and problem solving in the community. AFFC exists as a collaborative decision making group with public agencies, nonprofits, private entities and residents to develop, implement, and evaluate a community strategic plan. AFFC works to help families become stable and self sufficient, enabling children to succeed in school, stay safe and grow up with a more promising future. The collaborative sets priorities to achieve results, allocates resources and holds itself accountable for the well-being of children and families in the community. AFFC is organized exclusively to:

• Improve the lives of families and children in Fulton County
• Engage all sectors of the community in the work of the collaborative
• Encourage partnerships and leveraging of resources
• Advocate and promote the implementation of the strategic plan

AFFC Goals
Atlanta Fulton Family Connection will work collaboratively in four focused areas:

Child abuse and neglect
Goals: Reduce number of cases of child abuse and neglect in targeted Fulton County zip codes, reduce child deaths , and reduce # of infants, under age 1, who reside in DFCS custody.

Homelessness
Goals: Increase services provided for homeless population in targeted zip codes and increase # of assessment centers (shelters) in North Fulton from 0 to 1.

Health
Goals: Improve health services for children in targeted communities and open a school-based health center in North Fulton County (targeting Latino community).

School success
Goals: Improve student school performance, improve CRCT reading scores in targeted schools, and improve YRBS scores in targeted schools.

Community Collaboratives: AFFC Partners
AFFC Partners
Georgia Family Connection Partnership Prevent Child Abuse Georgia Atlanta Public Schools Fulton County Public Schools Stand Up for Kids Genesis North Fulton Community Charities Pathways The Community Foundation Juvenile Justice Fund CHRIS Kids Family Prevention Resource and Learning Center @ Zion Families First House of Hope Covenant House Georgia Parents, Teachers and Advocates Inc. Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) Atlanta Police Department Fulton County Juvenile Court	Quality Care for Children House of Ruth Salvation Army Fulton County Medical Examiners Office AMERIGroup Community Partnership of Protecting Children (CPPC) Georgia Center for Child Advocacy Fulton County Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases SMART Family Prevention Resource and Learning Center Center for Black Women’s Wellness Big Brothers Big Sisters Fulton County Community Residents United Way Fulton County Board of Education Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Centers Latin American Association (LAA)	Fulton County Police Department Soccer in the Streets Georgia Family Council Communities in School – Atlanta Fulton County Division of Family and Children Services Community Action Center Fulton County Housing Authority Gate City Day Nursery Association Fulton County Health and Wellness Mary Hall Freedom House Fulton County Human Services Department Village Keepers Inc. Bagley Youth Development North Fulton Child Development Association The Annie E. Casey Foundation Housing Authority – City of College Park Regional Council of Churches - Atlanta

For more information on Atlanta Fulton Family Connection, please contact:

Ms. DeAnne Hayes
Assistant Coordinator
404.224.4415
DeAnne.Hayes@FultonCountyGA.gov

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OJJDP Demonstration Project
In the last five years, the issue of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has gained increased public attention. The sad fact is that there are adults in our country who make money selling vulnerable children to others who would use them for selfish pleasures. This heinous situation has existed across time, but with the introduction and growth of the Internet, this problem has expanded exponentially. Whereas before a pimp operated in his/her own locale, exploiting local children on local streets, now the pimp has access to a virtual universe of customers, can seduce victims off of social networking sites and can traffic them with ease across state lines.

In 2003, JJF was selected as one of only two sites nationwide to receive a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to develop and pilot a national model to help communities fight child sexual exploitation. The OJJDP Demonstration Project featured intense training of law enforcement, school and social works, court officers, medical staff and other community stakeholders to recognize the signs of a sexually exploited child, and to understand the nature of sexual victimization.

Outcomes of the OJJDP Demonstration Project include bi-weekly Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) meetings that provide an opportunity for a multi-disciplinary team to come together and review any new cases and follow-up on old cases, allowing for a comprehensive and systematic process to provide support for CSEC victims and build more solid cases for prosecution. JJF’s Center to End Adolescent Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) staff attend these CAIT meetings to identify and flag children with high risk indicators and provide intervention and prevention services through volunteer and staff advocates.

The outcomes of the OJJDP Demonstration Project also include the development of an exceptionally comprehensive and effective database system called CACTIS, which is used by Atlanta and Fulton County service providers to access, review and monitor the cases of child abuse and exploitation victims.

Perhaps the greatest systemic outcome under the OJJDP grant has been the CSEC Interagency Protocol that was developed in the last year of the grant award. This protocol is the first of its kind nationwide and represents the commitment of fifteen agencies within Fulton County to work together to improve the response to and handling of CSEC reports, as well as the support and treatment for CSEC victims. The protocol also provides law enforcement with the support they need to prosecute the perpetrators of CSEC crimes in an effort to cut off the source of this crime. The CSEC Interagency Protocol, developed with technical assistance from Fox Valley Technical College, represents the best practices for CSEC to date. JJF has received several requests from cities nationwide for copies of the completed protocol.

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