B4U-ACT is an American nonprofit organization based in Baltimore. The organization has worked 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. The organization's activities have included connecting mental health professionals to people under the risk of commiting 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. 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.