In the fall of 2020, while the COVID pandemic was still raging, Safer Society Foundation was contacted by the organization that had assumed ownership of the National Adolescent Perpetrator Network (NAPN). They inquired whether we were open to assuming responsibility for NAPN. Having had a long and close relationship with Gail Ryan and the Kempe Center, the group largely responsible for the creation and operation of NAPN for many years, we decided we would keep NAPN alive, provided that we had the capability to do so.

We knew this was going to be a challenge. The NAPN conference—the primary activity of the organization—had had diminishing attendance. And now we were in a pandemic; we weren't sure if or when in-person gatherings would be a thing again.

It was also about this time that our fledgling Continuing Education Center was getting off the ground. We thought there might be some synergy with the NAPN "brand." As it turned out, we had too much going on to make this connection literal. We thought about calling the appropriate webinars and trainings (those relating to adolescent treatment) NAPN events. But we thought that would just confuse people, as well as simply being a chimera. The NAPN affiliation wouldn't change the content; it would just be one more thing to explain.

As a consequence, NAPN as an agent of in-person conferences does not exist at this time. We know that there is a group of people who remain dedicated to the mission of NAPN. We believe those who remain dedicated to the mission of NAPN will find the spirit in the numerous on-line events we run that address topics close to their hearts.

Will there ever be another NAPN conference? We can't say.

Opportunities sometimes emerge when least expected.