Establishing Minimum Training Standards
Training should be used to increase knowledge and awareness of child abuse prevention, to teach staff about responding to children who disclose…
Home / Code of Conduct / Guidelines for Interactions at Your Organization
It’s essential that interactions between your employees/volunteers and the youth you serve are appropriate and positive, support positive youth development, make children and youth feel valued, and provide the caring connections that serve to protect them. At the same time, inappropriate or harmful interactions put children and youth at risk for adverse physical and emotional outcomes.
That’s why it’s important that you identify behaviors that fall into the categories of appropriate, inappropriate, and harmful. Your Code of Conduct should explain those categorizations, and the expected responses when inappropriate or harmful behaviors are observed—up to and including a report to the Department of Children and Families.
For example, Codes of Conduct generally try to draw attention to the power differential between adults/authority figures and children/youth, and the importance of appropriate physical, emotional, and verbal boundaries. And they emphasize the use of discretion when touching a child, defining appropriate and inappropriate touch.
Physical contact between adults and the children/youth they supervise should always be public, age-appropriate, and non-sexual in nature. Establishing guidelines includes identifying a balance between encouraging positive and appropriate interactions and discouraging inappropriate and harmful interactions. With this balance in mind, your strategies can ensure that youth can benefit from your program without risk of sexual abuse or harm.
The boundaries between appropriate, inappropriate, and harmful behaviors aren’t always clear. If inappropriate or harmful behaviors do occur, it’s critically important that anyone who observes those behaviors feels free to speak up—even if they are unsure what to do next—and knows who in the reporting chain they need to contact. Some questionable behaviors can be handled internally with closer supervision; others need to be reported to law enforcement and/or the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. Communication from leadership and supervisors is key. It’s critical that you reinforce your general safety policies and Code of Conduct through supervision, at staff meetings, and during other training and professional development opportunities. That way, conversations about behaviors become more normalized and less reluctant. When this is accomplished, it will be easier and safer for your staff and volunteers to talk about any day-to-day behaviors that cause concern—and the safer your environment will be for everyone.
Your Code of Conduct can also help to clarify certain behaviors and circumstances, so everyone is on the same page. These include:
Training
Training should be used to increase knowledge and awareness of child abuse prevention, to teach staff about responding to children who disclose…
Screening & Hiring
To strengthen your screening and hiring process, you can use the questions in Thinking About Risk to make decisions about what additional background…
Safe Environments
Physically safe spaces, with proper supervision, are required to maintain safety standards at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO). Ensure policies…
Safe Environments
Your youth-serving organization may provide transportation to children and youth—either on a regular or occasional basis. If you’re a larger…
Sustainability
In order to uphold a culture of safety at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO), communication between leadership, staff and volunteers must focus…
Training
When it comes to training your volunteers, there is certain core content that is critical to include in a comprehensive training program to…
Screening & Hiring
Certain organizations, such as public schools and licensed childcare programs, must also query national criminal record and fingerprint-based…
Code of Conduct
Keep in mind that a Code of Conduct is limited; it usually refers only to the most common and expected behaviors staff/volunteers may encounter each…
Policies & Procedures
Sample Self-Audit Form for YSOs You can use the following “Self-Audit” form to take an inventory of your youth-serving organization’s abuse…
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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