Ongoing Implementation of Your Policies and Procedures
Your Policies and Procedures must be adhered to by all staff and volunteers to maintain safety standards at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO)….
Home / Policies & Procedures / What’s in a Child Protection Policy?
Policies for youth-serving organizations in Massachusetts should clearly identify the duties and responsibilities of all staff, reflect both Federal and Massachusetts abuse reporting laws, provide direction to employees, staff, and volunteers who wish to make a report, and define the internal mechanisms to be followed when a case of child abuse or neglect is suspected or being reported. When a crisis occurs, a clearly defined and recognized set of policies and procedures will make the process of reporting go more smoothly, thus helping to reduce the anxiety, any confusion, and reluctance of staff, and protecting children/youth more effectively.
Here’s a list of values that should guide the creation of your child protection policy.
With those values in mind, an effective set of abuse policies for youth-serving organizations should:
Introduce child protection organizational values and Policies and Procedures with all new staff upon hire as part of staff orientation, and review and update this information with all staff on an annual basis.
Policies & Procedures
Your Policies and Procedures must be adhered to by all staff and volunteers to maintain safety standards at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO)….
Screening & Hiring
To determine what screening tools are most appropriate to use for a particular position and to ensure consistency in your screening protocols, we…
Training
Ideally, all children/youth should receive training and education on issues of personal safety and abuse prevention. However, not every organization…
Training
A Model for Evaluation: Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Every training course needs a method of collecting feedback to ensure a course is…
Code of Conduct
Your Code of Conduct should cultivate standards of behavior for staff and volunteers at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) which prioritize child…
Screening & Hiring
Certain organizations, such as public schools and licensed childcare programs, must also query national criminal record and fingerprint-based…
Screening & Hiring
Because the internet and social media are a rich source of information about prospective candidates, and social media is perceived as a forum in…
Reporting
Mandated reporters are required to immediately report suspicions of child abuse and neglect to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families…
Safe Environments
Physically safe spaces, with proper supervision, are required to maintain safety standards at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO). Ensure policies…
Code of Conduct
Once your Code of Conduct is in place, it’s important to implement it through training and by disseminating the information widely, in a variety…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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