FAC Weekly Update 10-06-2026-FAF and FAC–Two Paths in the Same Direction

Weekly update for October 6, 2026. This is recording number 393

Dear Members and Advocates,

Over the past 15 years of our existence, the Florida Action Committee (FAC) has grown from a small handful of people concerned about Florida’s registry laws into a statewide organization with more than 3,700 members, an active legal program, legislative advocacy, public education, and a rapidly growing voice in the public-safety conversation. With that growth came a realization: our mission has always had two complementary parts (ending the registry and prevention of sexual harm), and we needed a way to pursue both more effectively.

On one hand, FAC advocates against ineffective, excessive, and unconstitutional laws that make it harder for people who have completed their sentences to find housing, maintain employment, support their families, and successfully reintegrate into their communities. We believe that public policy should be based on what actually makes communities safer, not on laws that sound tough but make successful reintegration more difficult. On the other hand, we want the same fundamental thing as everyone does: fewer victims and less sexual offending. That means supporting and promoting the things that actually prevent sexual abuse and reduce sexual offending in the first place, including education, prevention, research, and evidence-based interventions. Those two objectives are not contradictory. In fact, they are connected.

But we also recognized a practical problem: sometimes the messenger matters. When an organization like FAC is identified primarily as a registry-reform or “sex offender advocacy” group, its efforts to promote prevention and education can be dismissed before anyone even considers the substance of what it is saying. Educational institutions, researchers, victim-service organizations, law-enforcement agencies, and other potential partners may be reluctant to associate their prevention work with an organization they perceive as primarily advocating for people on the registry.

We spent considerable time thinking about how to overcome that barrier without compromising anything FAC stands for in any way. The answer was to create a separate organization with a distinct identity and purpose: Florida Action Foundation, Inc. (FAF). FAF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on education, prevention, research, and other charitable activities designed to promote public safety and reduce sexual offending. FAF intends to expand their work to organizations other than FAC, enabling FAF to approach schools, universities, researchers, victim organizations, law enforcement, and other community partners. That doesn’t mean FAC and FAF disagree about the ultimate objective. Both organizations agree that the current registry structure is unconstitutional and ineffective, and both organizations want safer communities.

There is also an important legal and practical distinction between the organizations. Florida Action Committee, Inc. is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. That structure is particularly important because lobbying is an essential part of FAC’s work. When FAC representatives meet with legislators, testify before committees in Tallahassee, advocate for or against legislation, and work to change Florida’s laws, we need an organizational structure that permits substantial lobbying activity. In contrast, Florida Action Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. A 501(c)(3) has restrictions on lobbying in order to maintain its charitable tax status. Therefore, FAF’s focus will be on education, prevention, research, and charitable programs. There is also an important difference for donors. Contributions to FAC, a 501(c)(4), are not tax deductible as charitable contributions. Whereas, contributions to FAF, a 501(c)(3), are generally tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

For the past year, we have been deliberately working on a structure to make sure that both organizations operate in compliance with the laws and regulations applicable to them. Creating two nonprofit entities with different tax classifications isn’t simply a matter of giving them different names and putting different language on their websites. We needed to establish real organizational boundaries so that neither organization jeopardizes its tax-exempt status or inadvertently engages in activities that belong to the other. That means maintaining clear separation between the two organizations’ activities, governance, finances, and responsibilities. Those who are focused on FAC’s mission and activities will operate under FAC. Those who are focused on FAF’s prevention, education, research, and charitable mission will operate under FAF.  As part of that separation, an officer or director of one organization cannot simultaneously serve as an officer or director of the other. That distinction is intentional. It is part of creating the organizational separation necessary for each entity to operate according to its own legal requirements and mission.

The separation should not be interpreted as anyone who had to move to FAF is abandoning FAC, walking away from the fight, or changing our fundamental game plan. That’s not the case AT ALL! This is not a change in direction for our organization or any individual. It is an expansion of our mission. The creation of FAF does not mean FAC is abandoning its goal of ending the registry. Quite the opposite. As you can hopefully see based on the lawsuits we have initiated this year alone and our efforts in Tallahassee, FAC is more committed than ever to its fundamental position that Florida’s registry is unconstitutional and not an effective public-safety or prevention tool. We can oppose laws that do not make communities safer while supporting the policies that actually do, and there is no reason to pretend that those positions are inconsistent. In fact, the evidence increasingly demonstrates why they belong in the same conversation. Policies that make stable housing, employment, family relationships, and successful community reintegration more difficult can undermine the very conditions that help reduce reoffending. A system that makes it harder for people to build stable, productive lives after completing their sentences is not making the public safer. Punishment and prevention are not the same thing.

FAF has already provided a grant of more than $60,000 to FAC to support the FAC v. Glass litigation. When a donor gives to FAF and specifically designates the donation for litigation challenging the registry, those funds will be earmarked for that purpose and used exclusively for that purpose. This gives supporters, such as other 501(c)(3) organizations, grant providers, Donor-Advised Funds, or individuals who are interested in making a larger donation but want the benefit of it being tax deductible a way to contribute to the fight.

Think of FAC and FAF as two vehicles traveling toward the same destination. One organization can challenge what doesn’t work, the other can help build what does. And both are ultimately working toward the same goal: safer communities, fewer victims, and public policy based on evidence rather than fear. FAC will continue doing what FAC has done for 15 years and FAF gives our constituents the opportunity to engage people and institutions that may never have been willing to sit down with a “sex offender registry-reform organization” and to have a serious conversation about what actually prevents sexual abuse and makes communities safer.

FAC and FAF are united by a common goal and a shared commitment. Since our creation, the words at the top of our website have captured what we believe: “With Unity Comes Change.” Today, those words are more meaningful than ever. FAF is an expanded path, but we are moving in the same direction. And together, those paths give us a greater opportunity to create change.

Sincerely,

The Florida Action Committee

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