Please join CSN on Safer Internet Day, February 10, 2026, for a webinar on programs aimed at creating healthy and safe spaces for children and adolescents. During this webinar, we will hear from Special Agent Britney Hays from the Secret Service’s Child Safety Outreach Programs, as well as Ale Levi and Rene Young from the Department of Homeland Security.
The Secret Service’s Child Safety Outreach Programs provides prevention information to the community and creates safer spaces for children to live, learn, and play. These programs exist to safeguard children against the threats posed by the rapid expansion of digital technology and the corresponding threat that child sexual exploitation and abuse pose to the health, safety, and development of America’s children. Special Agent Hays will present on programming for Kindergarten through Grade 5 (5-10 year olds).
The Department of Homeland Security’s Know2Protect is a public awareness campaign aimed to educate and empower children and adults to prevent and combat online sexual exploitation and abuse. Senior Forensic Interview Specialist Ale Levi and Forensic Interview Specialist Rene Young will present on programming for children and adolescents ages 10 and up.
Presenters:
Special Agent (SA) Britney R. Hays currently holds the position of Assistant Special Agent in Charge within the Forensic Services Division (FSD), National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). In this role, she oversees 200 collateral duty employees who serve as Secret Service Ambassadors for the agency's child safety outreach programs and acts as a United States Secret Service liaison to NCMEC. She cultivates relationships with DHS components, the FBI, DOD, and state and local agencies to coordinate and offer forensic and technical support for missing and exploited child cases.
SA Hays began her career as a Uniformed Division Officer in the United States Secret Service in 2006. She moved on to administrative, professional, and technical staff in 2009 in the Los Angeles Field Office and finally began her Special Agent journey in 2015 at the Washington Field Office (WFO). In WFO she became certified as a physical training coordinator. She was assigned to the Electronic Crimes Task Force and conducted Mobile Wireless Investigations which involved assisting local law enforcement with finding individuals in possession of cellular devices associated with criminal activity or missing persons. SA Hays became an FSD/NCMEC Ambassador in 2018 which ignited her passion for teaching minors about internet safety and how to avoid exploitation and online violence.
Britney volunteered to serve her country for 20 years in the Ohio Air National Guard as a reservist. She retired as a Master Sergeant in September 2023. She has simultaneously dedicated approximately 18 years to public service in Federal Law Enforcement all with the United States Secret Service. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences from Mount Vernon Nazarene University and an MBA from American Military University.
Ale Levi is a Senior Forensic Interview Specialist (FIS) for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and is currently detailed to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Know2Protect Campaign as a Campaign Advisor and Subject Matter Expert. Ms. Levi is an LCSW and holds her Masters in Social Work and Forensic Psychology. She has worked in the area of child abuse/exploitation since 1998. In 2009, Ms. Levi became the first FIS for HSI and established the HSI Forensic Interview Program. She works with all victims of crime (children and adults), focusing on child exploitation/abuse, human trafficking, traveling child sex offender crimes, female genital mutilation, human rights violations and war crime victims. Ms. Levi travels domestically and internationally conducting forensic interviews and trainings in both English and Spanish.
Rene Young is a Forensic Interview Specialist with Homeland Security. Rene currently interviews victims/witnesses (both child and adult) of the crimes of child exploitation, sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, labor trafficking, female genital mutilation and many more. In addition to her role as a forensic interview specialist, Ms. Young is currently assigned to the Department of Homeland Security’s Know2Protect Campaign to bring awareness and stop online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Prior to her career with Homeland Security, Rene was a police officer with the City of Burlington, VT for 14 years. Rene was assigned as a Detective with The Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations for her last 7 years on the force, investigating all crimes sexual in nature, internet crimes against children, trafficking, serious child abuse and child homicides. Rene has also worked with Internet Crimes Against Children for over a decade as an investigator, undercover chatter and outreach specialist.