JustTell will be Participating in the Penn State Child Sexual Abuse Conference JustTell has been asked to join

an elite group of organizations from all over th e country that offer solutions for child sexual abuse to participate in the Penn State Child Sexual Abuse Conference. Greenwich, CT, September 28, 2012 -- JustTell (www.justtell.org), a New York Cit y based non-profit with a nationwide initiative, is pleased to announce that the y will be participating in the Penn State Child Sexual Abuse Conference in Octob er 2012. The goals of the conference are to raise awareness, educate, energize, and empower everyone to move forward o better protect children. JustTell was asked to join an elite group of organizations from all over the cou ntry that offer solutions for child sexual abuse. Just Tell was hand selected be cause of their one-of-a-kind mission, which encourages children to break the sil ence and speak out about sexual abuse. Our founder, Vivian Farmery, says, "Justtell's focus is to continually increase the percentage of youth who disclose sexual abuse when it occurs. This essential element has been missing in society and needs to be our number one priority if these situations are to improve upon how this issue has been handled in the past . Information and social support are crucial factors in a child's ability and wi llingness to disclose sexual abuse. Prompt disclosure is second only to preventi on in the goal of protecting children from abusers." Through consultation and collaboration with social workers, pediatricians, polic e, psychologists and other skilled professionals in the field of child abuse det ection, JustTell has developed a research-based approach to addressing sexual ab use. The goal of JustTell is to reach out to anyone between the ages 8 and 17 ye ars old who has been sexually abused in order to convey, in age- ppropriate lang uage that they are not alone, they are not to blame for the abuse and should fee l no guilt or shame, and then to assist then in choosing a trustworthy adult in their life and telling that adult about the sexual abuse. Over 80% of youth who are sexually abused are abused by an adult whom they know and have trusted. Just Tell empowers young adults who are sexually abused by countering the barriers to disclosure that abusers try to instill. Because teens listen to the advice of their peers more than that of adults, yout h are asked to participate in every aspect of the design and delivery of the mes sages of JustTell. Teens designed everything from JustTell's graphics to what ca lled "Street Teams". These teen-centric teams are made up of volunteers who go o ut into their communities and hand out JustTell's information to their peers. Th rough social media and the outreach groups, teens serve as the primary eliverers of the JustTell's message. In addition, each summer a team from JustTell travel s with the Vans Warped Tour, reaching tens of thousands of teens who attend the nationwide shows each summer. Simply teaching youth about sexual abuse is not enough. Society needs to give ch ildren a safe haven where they can read about situations like theirs to understa nd that they are not alone, and not to blame, and why they need to tell someone. Since sexual abuse among children is largely a silent and witness-free crime, d etection can often be difficult, therefore disclosure is critically important fo r investigative and treatment purposes. JustTell honestly and openly addresses a ll of the factors that make it difficult for a young person to tell. The long-term desired outcome of JustTell is to increase the disclosure rate of sexual abuse and to change the way this generation of youth perceive, and respon d to, childhood sexual abuse. All initiatives are designed to generate awareness , and to provide compassionate, age-appropriate guidance to prepare children who are being sexually abused with the means to begin a conversation with a trustwo

rthy adult. About our Founder: Vivian Farmery, MSW is a social worker with over 25 years experience working wit h the issue of childhood sexual abuse. Vivian has immersed herself in direct ser vice, education, program planning, and policy change to assist survivors of chil dhood sexual abuse. Vivian designed and implemented the first Mental Health Prog ram for a Federal Head Start center and trained numerous Head Start Centers in a buse detection and reporting policies. She taught for ten years as a professor o f social work at the New York University, Adelphi and Fordham Graduate Schools o f Social Work and has recently returned to Fordham where she is teaching new soc ial workers to work with adolescents. Recognized for her advocacy on behalf of c hildren, she was appointed by two successive Manhattan Borough Presidents to ser ve on the New York City Panel for Educational Policy. About Talk of the Town PR: Talk of the Town PR was founded in 2012, and provides quality Online PR for incr eased brand visibility and online presence. Working with causes, non-profits, sm all business, and corporations raising the level of awareness for your firm. Loc ated in the greater New York area. Contact: Yvonne McCormack Talk of the Town PR 100 Melrose Ave Suite 206 Greenwich, CT 06830 7176591411 yvonne@talkofthetownpr.com http://www.talkofthetownpr.com