Prevention & Education

Community 

Green Dot Communities

• Carrollton
• Covington
• Maysville
• Warsaw

Community Site Details

Carrollton is a charming river town located south of Cincinnati, and north of Louisville. Green Dot is a fairly new program in Carrollton that is quickly gaining momentum with the help of community partners. Carrollton has a college campus, over 115 businesses, a state park, and many other things to offer. Our goal in Carrollton is to create a safer community for all and change perceptions regarding power based personal violence in rural communities. Some Green Dot spots include: the iLead campus, Carroll County Public Library, Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, and the CC Child Development Center.

Covington

In Covington, the Green Dot strategy is gaining momentum as part of broader efforts to build safer, more respectful spaces for everyone. Local businesses and organizations are designating themselves as Green Dot Spots, which means staff have been trained to support people and intervene when needed, helping foster a culture where violence isn’t tolerated and everyone is expected to do their part. 

Fun Covington Fact: Founded in 1815 at the meeting point of the Licking and Ohio Rivers, Covington has more than 19 distinct neighborhoods and a vibrant history , once even hosting a professional baseball team, the Covington Blue Sox.

Green Dot Spots Covington

• West Sixth Brewery
• Larrys
• Second Story Bar
• Galaxy
• Revival 
• Frosthaus
• Braxton Brewing
• Hotel Covington
• Molly Malones
• Covington Yard
• Paddie’s
• Lincoln Grant Scholar House

Maysville

Green Dot has been a part of the Maysville community for more than 10 years, leading to Maysville becoming the first Green Dot City in the nation. This milestone reflects a shared commitment to proactive violence prevention and community accountability.

Located along the Ohio River, Maysville is known for its picturesque views & strong sense of connection — word travels fast, and people show up for one another. Key Green Dot Maysville accomplishments include achieving Green Dot City status (again, the first one in the country!), the formation of the Green Dot Maysville Board, and the development of an upcoming Green Dot Park.

Green Dot Spots Maysville

• Buffalo Trace District Health Dept.
• C.A.S.E. Study Learning Tutoring
• Casa
• Chamber of Commerce
• Children’s Advocacy Center
• Church of the Nativity
• Commonwealth Attorney’s Office
• Community Care of Mason County
• Comprehend, Inc
• Country Corner Ceramics
• CrossPoint Community Church
• Dear Faith
• First Baptist
• First Christian
• First Presbyterian
• Hemingway’s Bourbon & Coffee
• Ion Center
• Judge Executive’s Office
• Lifeline Home Care
• Mason County Clerk’s Office
• Mason County Sheriff’s Office
• Maysville City Administration
• Maysville City Administration
• Maysville Fire Department
• Maysville Ortho
• Maysville Players
• MCTC- Licking Valley
• MCTC- Maysville
• MCTC- Montgomery County
• MCTC- Rowan
• Parc Cafe
• Primary Plus
• River Outreach
• Seddon United Methodist
• Shepherds House
• St. Luke Anglican
• St. Patrick’s School
• Stober Drives
• Tom Browning Boys & Girls Club
• United way
• WFTM

Nestled directly on the Ohio river, Warsaw is a small but thriving city in Gallatin County KY. Warsaw is on track to become a Green Dot City with Green Dot spots including: the Courthouse, Champions for a drug free Gallatin county, GC extension services, GC Sheriff’s Department, Warsaw City Police, GC Public Library and more! Warsaw is home to many local restaurants, gorgeous river views, wedding venues, and small town charm. Gallatin County is often referred to as “small but in the middle of it all” given its location halfway between Cincinnati and Louisville!

FAQ

How do we become a Green Dot Community? 

Currently, Maysville and Warsaw have both received the designation of “Green Dot Community” — the only two in the state of Kentucky to do so! Covington and Carrollton are both working toward this designation. This designation of Green Dot Community means that 15% of people from three different subgroups (e.g. city government, faith-based communities, nonprofits, healthcare, education, etc.) have completed the Green Dot Bystander Training. These could be Green Dot Spots or Green Dot Groups. For more information about the process, check out the Green Dot Community Guidelines from the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs. If you are located in the Northern Kentucky or Buffalo Trace region of Kentucky and are interested in bringing these trainings to your community, email greendot@ioncenter.org or complete the contact form on our homepage. 

Find out more about the Green Dot Community.

How do I become a Green Dot Spot?

A Green Dot Spot is a business, church, organization, or other entity where 15% of their staff or members have completed the Green Dot Bystander Training. If you don’t have a physical space, we do have the option for folks to become a Green Dot Group as well! Upon reaching this designation, you will receive social media recognition, a vinyl Green Dot Spot window cling, and other Green Dot items for use in your establishment. If you are interested in becoming a Green Dot Spot, please email greendot@ioncenter.org or complete the contact form on our homepage. 

96% of Green Dot-trained community members know someone who has been impacted by power-based personal violence.

83% of community members were definite that they would intervene the next time they saw a potentially dangerous situation, after completing Green Dot training.

College

• MCTC & JCTC – Green Dot
• NKU – Peer Ambassador Program

JCTC

Under the Carrollton community launch, Ion Center has partnered with Jefferson Community and Technical College’s Carrollton Campus, bringing Green Dot bystander intervention training to students, faculty, and staff members. This partnership would not be possible without the continued work and effort of Heather Yocum, Carrollton Campus Site Director. This feels impactful for the Carrollton community as students who are trained at JCTC can take the training into the community once they graduate. 

NKU Peer Ambassador Program

Ion Center partners with the Norse Violence Prevention (NVP) at Northern Kentucky University.  They continue to work alongside campus partners and the Ion Center for Violence Prevention to provide meaningful prevention programming and help set students up for success.

One of the primary initiatives each year is offering bystander intervention training. NVP rotates through freshman English and communication courses, ensuring that as many first-year students as possible receive Bystander Intervention training. In addition to these in-person presentations, the team has been developing an online version of the training. This new format will allow NVP to better engage nontraditional and online students, equipping them with the skills to build safer, healthier communities regardless of where they are learning.

NVP collaborates with several NKU offices to host engaging, interactive events that encourage student involvement and promote violence prevention and wellness. Signature events planned for the fall include the Healthy Halloween Student Resource Fair, Red Zone Decoded, and World Mental Health Day.

Majority of the prevention programming at NKU is offered through NVP’s Peer Ambassador program. Peer ambassadors are selected through an application and interview process and participate in extensive training each August. They will learn how to staff outreach tables, facilitate prevention workshops, and respond appropriately when supporting survivors. Peer Ambassadors are a vital part of NVP’s prevention efforts, helping bridge the gap between students and faculty by connecting with their peers in authentic and meaningful ways.

High School

High School Sites

• Augusta Independent School
• Bracken County High School
• Covington Catholic High School
• Covington Latin School
• Fleming County High School
• Holmes High School
• Ludlow High School
• Mason County High School
• Newport High School
• Notre Dame Academy

Site Details

Augusta Independent Schools

Augusta Independent Schools, located in the historic district of Augusta, KY, is one of our longest-running Green Dot schools, having started all the way back in 2014 as soon as the CDC pilot study concluded! One benefit of working in a school Augusta’s size is the time we get to spend with each student. In addition to the standard bystander training, we are able to meet with students every month to reinforce learning, continue skill building, and explore new questions and concerns related to bystander intervention and what students are experiencing in their lives.

Bracken County High School

Bracken County High School, located in Brooksville, KY, was one of our first Green Dot schools when it started doing Green Dot in 2015. After a brief pause in programming, we are thrilled to be starting Green Dot there again in 2026. We’re excited to get back in with the students of Bracken County and see where our adventure there takes us!

Covington Catholic High School

Covington Catholic High School is located in Park Hills Kentucky. The school started Green Dot in 2021. One of the best parts of having Green Dot at Covington Catholic is that we get to see how kind, respectful, silly, and fun their students can be. Each time we have trainings, students are always eager to participate as well as help us clean up afterwards.

Covington Latin School

Covington Latin School is located in downtown Covington and started its Green Dot program in 2024. Cov Lat students always have funny, thoughtful, and extraordinarily creative ways to incorporate Green Dot into their daily lives; additionally, Trojans and alums are some of our longest-standing and most consistent student volunteers at the Ion Center!

Fleming County High School

Fleming County High School, located in Flemingsburg, KY, began Green Dot in 2025. FCHS gave us Green Dot educators a newfound way to do the bystander training. Rather than beginning the program implementation by training students from different social groups, we began student trainings with athletes in the spring of 2025 and were able to train about 13% of the school! In the fall of 2025, we were able to build on that solid foundation and expand into different social groups to reach our goal of training 15% of the student population in the first three years.

Holmes High School serves the Covington, Kentucky area, and was the first public high school in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We began Green Dot at Holmes High School in 2019, and we have been proud partners in their work towards building a safe and healthy environment for students. In addition to Green Dot trainings, we have conducted community level violence prevention projects at Holmes to include student voices in system changes.

Ludlow High School

Ludlow High School, located in Ludlow, is our other longest-running Green Dot school in the region (alongside Augusta), having begun implementation all the way back in 2014 upon the conclusion of the CDC pilot study. We are so grateful to have amazing connections with students who have since grown into wonderful community advocates! Ludlow has completed extensive community improvement throughout its Green Dot journey to make their students feel safe and connected.

Mason County High School

Mason County High School, located in Maysville, KY, began Green Dot in 2016. MCHS has given us many opportunities to be involved in their extra-curricular activities over the years. This allows us to be active with students and community members. Students at MCHS have also participated in community level violence prevention projects that allow students to not only have their voices heard by the administration, but to have voice in the changes the school makes to make their environment feel safer.

Newport High School

Newport High School is located in Newport, Kentucky, and is one of our longest-running Green Dot schools, having started in 2015. For over 10 years, Newport High School has had a great reputation with their charismatic and energetic students. Our educators love to come back each year and connect with the same students they saw last year. It is always fun to go to Newport High School to do trainings because we know we are going to see some students that love to have fun and make their voice heard.

Notre Dame Academy

Notre Dame Academy is located in Park Hills, Kentucky. They started Green Dot in 2017. Notre Dame students are always polite and a joy to be around. Each year we get to make some new memories with them during trainings. Notre Dame students are some of the funniest students we have ever had the privilege of doing trainings for. They are always consistently completing all required Green Dot events each year.

How do I become a Green Dot School? 

If you are a student, parent, or staff member at a school in the Northern Kentucky or Buffalo Trace region of Kentucky, we would love to be in your school!  

37% of Green Dot trained high school students had experienced an act of power-based personal violence.

77% of high schoolers were definite that they would intervene the next time they saw a potentially dangerous situation, after completing Green Dot training.

Here are some steps you can take to start the process:

For anyone, reach out to an Ion educator to support you. Email greendot@ioncenter.org or complete the contact form on our homepage. 

You may also consider:

• If you’re a student, go to a teacher, counselor, administrator or other school staff member you like and tell them what you’ve learned about Green Dot and why you want it in your school. 
• If you’re a parent, reach out to a school staff member (typically a counselor or FRYSC) to see if your student’s school has Green Dot (or a similar program). Tell them about Green Dot and why you want it in your school. 
• If you’re a school staff member or administrator, reach out to us to schedule a meeting. We’re happy to send over materials and walk through the process. 

If you go to a school in Kentucky, but aren’t in one of Ion Center’s counties, visit the KASAP website to find out your local Green Dot provider. 

Middle School

It’s My Space

It’s My Space is a Kentucky-specific adaptation of an evidence-based middle school primary prevention program that teaches students about personal boundaries.

The program includes four classroom sessions where students participate in engaging activities and discussion to deepen their understanding of personal boundaries.

Additionally, students complete a school hotspot mapping activity where they identify the spaces in the school where they feel safe, unsafe, or in-between. Prevention Educators use this information to work with school administrators to make changes to the school environment to keep students safe.

Learning Objectives

Students who attend It’s My Space trainings will be able to:

• Define their own personal boundaries
• Communicate their personal boundaries
• Recognize signs of someone’s boundary being crossed
• Understand the importance of respecting people’s boundaries
• Understanding and respecting boundaries is fundamental to keeping youth safe.

All components of the It’s My Space program connect back to three main boundary concepts:

• What is a boundary?
• When do boundaries happen?
• How to promote respect of boundaries? 

The program addresses these three concepts at both the student level and the school level.

Student-level change initiated by It’s My Space focuses on changing students’ knowledge and behavior around boundaries and boundary violations. The program promotes the importance of respecting others’ boundaries and supporting a friend if a boundary violation has already occurred.

School-level change initiated by It’s My Space seeks to create a school environment where boundary violations do not occur. Students map the spaces where they feel safe and where they feel unsafe in their own schools. Then, prevention educators work with the school to adopt targeted strategies that will make unsafe spaces in the school safer.

If you are a student, parent, or staff member at a school in the Northern Kentucky or Buffalo Trace region of Kentucky, we would love to be in your school!  Here are some steps you can take to start the process:

For anyone, reach out to an Ion educator to support you. Email greendot@ioncenter.org or complete the contact form on our homepage. 

You may also consider:

• If you’re a student, go to a teacher, counselor, administrator or other school staff member you like and tell them what you’ve learned about It’s My Space and why you want it in your school. 
• If you’re a parent, reach out to a school staff member (typically a counselor or FRYSC) to see if your student’s school has It’s My Space (or a similar program). Tell them about It’s My Space and why you want it in your school. 
• If you’re a school staff member or administrator, reach out to us to schedule a meeting. We’re happy to send over materials and walk through the process. 

If you go to a school in Kentucky, but aren’t in one of Ion Center’s counties, visit the KASAP website to find out your local It’s My Space provider. 

How do we know it works?

Research on the program It’s My Space was adapted from showed reductions of…

26% Reduction in sexual harassment

50% Reduction in physical and sexual dating violence

32% Reduction in peer sexual violence

Find out more at the KASAP It’s My Space page.

Professional Training

In addition to Green Dot, Ion offers a wide range of trainings for professional and community groups. These vary in length, are tailored to your group’s needs, and are offered in person or virtually.

For more information or to schedule, email training@ioncenter.org.

Current training opportunities include:

• The Ion Center Services Overview
• Sex Trafficking & Exploitation
• Serving People Affected by Violence
• Neurobiology of Trauma
• Trauma Informed Care
• Legal Advocacy & Protective Orders
• Vicarious Trauma, Burnout, and Compassion Fatigue
• Healthy Relationships
• Setting, Communicating, and Adjusting Boundaries
• Consent
• PBPV, Mental Health, and Substance Use
• Self-Care in Compassion Professions
• + many more!