Lifting Up Connecting Police and Schools for Children at Risk
PEORIA, Ill., Nov. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A startup in Peoria, Illinois, is making it easier for schools and first responders to connect and support children who have experienced violence or trauma in their homes or community.
Kathleen Kelly began Lifting Up LLC in 2018, inspired by her work at the Peoria Police Department. Hearing about gun violence, domestic violence, and other traumatic incidents involving children in her community, she wondered if schools could be given a "heads up" so they could be prepared when that child next came to school.
"Say there is a domestic dispute in a student's home that escalates to a neighbor calling the police," she explained. "As a result, the child is up late, oversleeps, gets to school late and is given detention. Or falls asleep in class, is startled awake by a touch on the arm, strikes out, and gets suspended. Through no fault of this child, he or she is met with discipline because of a manifestation of trauma."
Lifting Up's SmartServices Alerts sends an email to designated school contacts each morning before the bell rings, notifying them of children who have been impacted by a traumatic event. No details of the incident are given to protect privacy, but schools may then notify teachers or counselors to monitor and be prepared to offer trauma-sensitive support. Lifting Up's service can be used by communities to automate or add to their "Handle with Care" initiatives.
The startup was assisted by Moonshot at NACET, an entrepreneurial program that awarded $5,000 in AWS Cloudstart credits to Lifting Up as part of a pitch event. The credits were instrumental for Kelly and co-founder brother, Alec Johnston, to the develop the technology behind SmartServices Alerts and launch a pilot to test it.
The pilot was completed this year in partnership with the Peoria Public School District, Peoria Police Department and Peoria County Sheriff's Office, alerting schools about more than 700 incidents that impacted about 1,200 students during the 2019-2020 school year.
Kelly said the company is in discussion with several school districts to expand this social impact.
To learn more about Lifting Up LLC and the SmartServices Alerts system, visit liftingupllc.com.
SOURCE Moonshot at NACET
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