Six integrated layers of protection, education, and healing — adapted from an internationally proven framework for the High Country of Western North Carolina.
The DCSE is a layered, interlocking architecture where each component addresses a different dimension of child safety — and every layer reinforces the others. Developed by The Proudfoot Group and proven internationally, the AHA Foundation is adapting this framework for Watauga County and the broader High Country.
Privacy-first AI that detects when children are using an app and instantly activates age-appropriate protections — content filtering, grooming detection, communication monitoring, and threat blocking. All processing is local; no data ever leaves the device. No face scans, no personal data collected — behavioral signals only. Enables COPPA, GDPR-K, and KOSA compliance for any platform.
A downstream digital child safeguarding platform providing developer tools, compliance infrastructure, and institutional reporting pathways for any platform serving children. ChildSafe.dev connects technology companies with safety standards and law enforcement channels, creating accountability across the entire digital ecosystem. The AHA Foundation serves as a bridge between ChildSafe.dev and community institutions in the High Country.
A community-wide digital literacy curriculum adapted for the High Country — equipping parents, caregivers, and youth with practical skills to recognize online threats, grooming behaviors, trafficking red flags, and exploitation patterns. Delivered through schools, community centers, and faith communities. A structured High Country Youth Digital Safety Advocates cohort will serve as peer educators and program ambassadors across Watauga County schools.
Developed by Native Brigade — an Indigenous-led technology and public safety organization. Sentinel Guard™ provides real-time community safety monitoring, situational awareness tools, and threat detection capabilities for law enforcement, tribal nations, and community organizations. Integrated into the DCSE to support trafficking identification and coordinated response across the High Country region.
Also developed by Native Brigade, Adams Watch™ is a specialized human trafficking detection, tracking, and reporting platform. Named in the tradition of advocacy for missing and murdered Indigenous women and children, it equips educators, social workers, and law enforcement with intelligence tools to identify at-risk individuals, recognize trafficking patterns, and coordinate rapid response. Core to the DCSE's anti-trafficking layer.
The AHA Foundation's signature community program — an evidence-based wilderness nature therapy curriculum designed for university faculty co-delivery, offering structured outdoor healing experiences for trafficking survivors, at-risk youth, and vulnerable families. Grounded in trauma-informed care frameworks and delivered through the extraordinary natural landscape of the Appalachian High Country. This is what makes the AHA Foundation's model distinct: we heal in the mountains.
Two new programs proposed by the AHA Foundation to extend the DCSE into direct community engagement and next-generation education.
A structured youth cohort serving as trained peer educators in digital literacy and online safety across Watauga County schools. Participants serve as both program beneficiaries and junior facilitators — providing youth voice to the Foundation's program design, and creating a pipeline for university student community engagement and research.
Community workshops, bootcamps, and mentorship in AI literacy, responsible technology use, digital forensics fundamentals, and child safety technology — delivered in partnership with a university computer science department. Building pathways to careers in child safety technology, cybersecurity, and ethical AI for High Country students.
"The High Country's extraordinary natural environment is an underutilized therapeutic asset. We bring digital protection upstream and healing experiences downstream — in the mountains where we live."— AHA Foundation, Founding Vision
Whether you're an educator, social worker, technologist, survivor advocate, or community member — there is a role for you in this ecosystem.