Congratulations to the Monique Burr Foundation for Children for its 2016 Innovators in Education Award. The Foundation received the award  recently at a luncheon co-sponsored by Jacksonville University and the Jacksonville Business Journal.

The recipients of this award were recognized for improving the education sector and positively impacting the lives of learners of all ages. The Foundation received the award for formalizing its approach to protecting young people from abuse and victimization. Its Child Safety Matters program trains school counselors to implement the program in their own schools using materials provided by the foundation.

“The program is innovative,” said Lynn Layton, executive director. “It takes a holistic approach to all forms of abuse. The chances are that if a child is being victimized in one way, they are being victimized in other ways.”

Through its Attorney General’s Office-backed partnerships with public and private schools across the state, the foundation has reached more than one million Florida students in grades K-6. The Foundation is also developing a program for seventh- and eighth-graders.