PROMISE - About Us

About us

PROMISE

In January of 2005, The Salvation Army’s PROMISE initiative (Partnership to Rescue our Minors from Sexual Exploitation) was launched in Chicago to combat sex trafficking of children. The model, developed by The Salvation Army, includes the formation of a task force which engages in initiatives that address the PROMISE provisions of awareness, prevention, intervention, and service delivery. Strategies for implementing the provisions are developed by members who represent the social service, education, legal, judicial, healthcare, law enforcement and other government sectors thus ensuring a comprehensive and holistic approach.

The PROMISE program is part of The Salvation Army's Chicago Metropolitan Division. Please review all our various programs and services.

Promote PROMISE

PROMISE reached agreement with the member organizations of the task force to launch an organized campaign to promote our model. To assist in the effort we provide a detailed PROMISE PowerPoint presentation. There are essential training notes included with this presentation. To access them please download the presentation and open it in Powerpoint.

Public Service Announcement

PROMISE is proud to collaborate with the United Center for the airing of an anti-sexual exploitation public service announcement spearheaded by The Salvation Army. See the PSA now:
Macintosh QuickTime (1.6MB)
Windows movie (1.6MB)

The Salvation Army’s Trafficking Outreach Program and Intervention Techniques (STOP-IT)

To complement the service provision of PROMISE, The Salvation Army received funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to promote the identification of trafficked victims. The STOP-IT program also conducts community outreach and provides training and technical assistance for those offering recovery services to trafficking survivors.

Members

To date, PROMISE is comprised of thirty-one governmental and non-governmental organizations, all of which support The Salvation Army model.

• The Salvation Army
• Adults Saving Kids
• Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation
• Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
• Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center
• Chicago Communities in Schools
• Chicago Police Department
• Children’s Memorial Hospital
• Christian Community Health Center
• The Circuit Court of Cook County, Juvenile Justice Division
• The Circuit Court of Cook County, Child Protection Division
• City of Chicago, Mayor’s Office of Domestic Violence
• Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues
• Cook County Sheriff, Youth Services Department
• Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department
• Dominican University
• The Dreamcatcher Foundation
• Heartland Alliance – National Immigrant Justice Center
• Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
• Illinois Department of Human Services
• Illinois Department of Children & Family Services
• Kaleidoscope, Inc.
• Law Offices of Salvador A. Cicero
• Maryville Academy
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
• Office of the Cook County Public Guardian
• Office of the Illinois Attorney General
• State’s Attorney of Cook County
• UCAN – Teen Parenting Service Network (TPSN)
• U.S. Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation

Highlights

Community Response Plan

On November 30, 2007 PROMISE held the Community Response Plan at Dominican University. At the event, a two-year plan was developed to combat commercial sexual exploitation of children in our community. The plan will be implemented by the PROMISE task force and the Awareness, Prevention, Intervention and Service Delivery Subcommittees.

 

New announcements

• Training will be offered to help understand,identify and respond to the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of our Children and Youth. On Wednesday July 15, 2009 The Salvation Army PROMISE program and the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center will sponsor a full day of training to assist clinicians in understanding, identifying and responding to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth. Participants will increase their knowledge of how to recognize commercial sexual exploitation, detect risk factors, effectively engage with victims, and learn about the Integrative Treatment of Complex Trauma model, a nationally acclaimed, evidence based treatment model. See Upcoming Events.
  This fantastic learning opportunity will take place at the beautiful conference and learning center located at U.S. Cellular Field.
  Presenters include:
  • Cheryl Lanktree, PhD, Executive Director
    Miller Children’s Abuse & Violence Intervention Center
  • Seth Donovan, Founder Prax(us)
  • Brenda Myers-Powell, Co-Founder Dream Catchers Organization
    Register on-line.
• Buy the DVD. As part of our fight against human trafficking The Salvation Army is proud to support Holly, an award winning,captivating film, now available on DVD. View the flyer (369KB pdf).
  
• Malia Designs Supports PROMISE
  Malia Designs, a Chicago company with a mission to combat human trafficking, has generously agreed to donate 15% of any purchase to The Salvation Army PROMISE program when customers inform them that the proceeds should be directed to PROMISE. Malia Designs sells products such as bags, wallets and accessories made by non-profit organizations that employ disadvantaged people in developing countries as well as small family producers. To check out their beautiful products visit http://www.maliadesigns.com. Be sure to indicate the your purchase is for PROMISE by sending Malia Designs an email at lia@maliadesigns.com.
• The Salvation Army PROMISE program sponsored a half day presentation and discussion on children’s rights, sexual exploitation and child sex tourism on March 20, 2009 at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Nursing. Presenters included Professor Jonathan Todres, Georgia State University College of Law, Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of ECPAT-USA and Amaya Renobales, Director of ECPAT-USA Protect Children in Tourism Project.
• PROMISE has formed a long-term partnership with Fair Fund in D.C. in an attempt to introduce their Tell Your Friends prevention curriculum to a select number of Chicago high schools.
• See previous announcements.
• Updated 5/16/09