Child Abuse & Exploitation Prevention
Douglas County Child Abuse Coalition- Up2Us Now
“Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime”
~ Herbert Ward
It’s no secret that child abuse happens in Douglas County. To change that, Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Foundation, working in concert with over 30 Douglas County community partner agencies and organizations, formed the Up2Us Now Child Abuse Prevention Coalition in July 2010. Our shared vision was to develop a child abuse and neglect prevention initiative to address all six levels of the Spectrum of Prevention.
Our goals:
- 1. Increase the safety of children in families and social environments
- 2. Increase community capacity to prevent child abuse and maltreatment
- 3. Increase institutional capacity to prevent child abuse and maltreatment
- 4. Act to change societal factors that condone, perpetuate or mediate child abuse and maltreatment.
Douglas County Human Trafficking Task Force was formed in 2015 in response to the increasing red flags and indicators of human trafficking occurring in our county.
The mission of the Douglas County Human Trafficking Task Force is to identify and respond to victims of human trafficking through seamless collaborations between law enforcement, social service providers and medical professionals using a victim-centered and trauma informed approach to outreach, education and support services throughout Douglas County.
The goals of the task force are to actively raise awareness and increase education on methods to prevent the recruitment into trafficking, identify high risk areas, behaviors and red flags of trafficking and identify potential victims and perpetrators of human trafficking. Our goals are to increase community collaboration for comprehensive services to victims to ensure care and safety as well as assist in providing information to law enforcement for investigative purposes to identify and prosecute perpetrators of trafficking.
These goals will be accomplished through multilayered projects throughout the Douglas County community and include but not limited to:
● Community awareness projects across all rural and metro areas.
● Targeted and demographic specific educational forums.
● Business specific awareness and education activities providing materials and education.
● Prevention and response education to students who will be entering into employment fields which may provide. services to victims or into areas where victims may be identified.
● Collaboratively work to improve and increase rescue, support and relocation services to identified victims.
● Collaborate to develop and implement protocol across partners for providing services to identified victims.
For more information or to learn how to get involved, please visit our website at www.up2usnow.org