Every Child. Every School. Every Community.
IPEC is a statewide coalition connecting prevention professionals, Child Advocacy Centers, schools, and community organizations across Indiana — united around one goal: making sure every Indiana child receives prevention education, every year.
Things to know
1 out of 4
Minors experienced online sexual grooming via long, intimate, conversations in online chatrooms.
360,000+
Indiana students reached annually through IPEC member organizations.
Zero
No Statewide Funding or Accountability for prevention education in Indiana K–12 schools. IPEC is working to change that.
> 1%
Less than 1% of child welfare funding is dedicated to prevention, despite overwhelming evidence that it works
The Indiana Prevention Education Coalition (IPEC), led by kNot Today is a collaborative network of organizations across Indiana united around one mission: preventing child sexual abuse before it begins.
Since our formation in June 2023, IPEC has been committed to advancing school-based prevention education for K–12 students. As the coalition has grown and matured, so has our vision. IPEC is expanding to address the full landscape of child sexual abuse prevention, including adult training, community awareness, caregiver education, and organizational safeguarding — because protecting children requires more than reaching them in the classroom. It requires equipping entire communities.
Our unified mission is to coordinate, strengthen, and scale prevention efforts across Indiana, connecting those who have experienced abuse to services, building the infrastructure for lasting statewide change, and ultimately preventing abuse from happening in the first place.
We are building a coalition where every organization working to protect Indiana's children has a home, a voice, and a network behind them.
Because childhood should be remembered, not recovered from.
Join Us at Our Next Meeting
IPEC meets quarterly for statewide coalition meetings, with additional regional and committee meetings throughout the year. Quarterly meetings are held virtually via Zoom, with the Q3 meeting in July conducted in person. All members and interested organizations are welcome to attend.
Join the Indiana Prevention Education Coalition
IPEC membership is open to any organization actively working to prevent child sexual abuse in Indiana. There are no membership fees.
- Access to The Bridge — IPEC's shared data, community forum and resource platform
- Networking with prevention professionals across Indiana
- Connection with prevention leaders in your region through IPEC regional meetings
- An invitation to IPEC's annual in-person gathering
- Access to prevention resources, toolkits, and training opportunities
- Technical assistance from kNot Today
- Eligibility for kNot Today's Child Protection Grant cycle
- Notification of other grant opportunities shared through the collaborative
- Updates on state-level policy, legislation, and prevention initiatives
- A collective voice advocating for prevention at the state level
Questions? Contact Candace Balzano at candace@knottoday.org
Our Leadership
Meet our Steering Committee
-
Candace Balzano
Program Director, kNot Today | Lead, Indiana Prevention Education Coalition
Candace is the Program Director at kNot Today, leading Indiana's statewide child sexual abuse prevention initiatives and supporting coalitions across the US. She brings 15+ years of frontline prevention experience, including nine years at Hendricks County Child Advocacy Center/Susie's Place as a Forensic Interviewer and Education and Outreach Program Manager. She's a certified instructor in MBF Child and Teen Safety Matters, and a facilitator for Darkness to Light Stewards of Children and several other prevention curricula. Candace currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Monique Burr Foundation for Children.
Learn more