B4U-ACT

B4U-ACT (lit. 'Before you act') is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Baltimore that works to prevent child sexual abuse by providing resources and treatment for potential sexual offenders.

Background
B4U-ACT was founded in 2003 by Russell Dick and Michael Melsheimer. Melsheimer was a former YMCA director that served four years in a federal prison for aggravated sexual assault involving children and Dick a former director of social work of the Springfield Hospital Center.

The organization's activities have included connecting mental health professionals to people under the risk of committing sexual offenses, as well as providing mental health resources of their own to such people. As of 2008, the organization had approximately 25 members.

During the development of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), B4U-ACT criticized the proposal of the American Psychiatric Association's Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group regarding the inclusion of hebephilia as a subtype of pedophilia in the DSM-5.

B4U-ACT has been criticized for its euphemistic language regarding pedophilia,using the term "MAPs" instead of pedophile. In October 2022, a member of transgender charity group Mermaids resigned from office after it was reported that he had spoken at a 2011 event organized by B4U-ACT.

Since January 2021 they publish the Peer-reviewed journal B4U-ACT Quarterly Review.