Promoting a Culture of Safety
Protocols should be developed in order to inform staff and volunteers about supervision, communication, and reporting procedures at your…
Home / Code of Conduct / What’s in a Code of Conduct?
Along with guiding appropriate behavior, your Code of Conduct should include a clear description of the lines of communication and reporting procedures if a staff member or volunteer wants to discuss or report behavior that’s concerning or is contrary to your Code of Conduct. You should educate everyone that the expectation is that all inappropriate behavior must be brought forward according to your internal policies, and define the process for doing so, including a description of the actions your YSO will take to investigate and resolve the reported behavior.
[Link to Reporting]
See the table below for the basic elements of a Code of Conduct.
You should consider your Code of Conduct as a “living” document that you should evaluate and revise periodically. This helps to make sure that parts of the Code that are not working, are unclear, or are not working as anticipated, are revised accordingly, and that missing or unanticipated behaviors and circumstances are added. In all cases, you should ask for input from the “front line” staff and volunteers who are responsible for implementing the Code of Conduct and its requirements so their day-to-day experiences can help to inform the evaluation and revision. This helps with staff “buy-in” and a sense of ownership.
Monitoring Behavior
Protocols should be developed in order to inform staff and volunteers about supervision, communication, and reporting procedures at your…
Screening & Hiring
Certain organizations, such as public schools and licensed childcare programs, must also query national criminal record and fingerprint-based…
Monitoring Behavior
Monitoring Behavior is the responsibility of all staff to hold each other accountable for appropriate behaviors and to report inappropriate conduct…
Sustainability
Common Implementation Roadblocks Natural conflicts exist between strategy and culture. These conflicts—if left unaddressed— predict that…
Training
Ideally, all children/youth should receive training and education on issues of personal safety and abuse prevention. However, not every organization…
Reporting
With some exceptions, a single incident or observation of suspected abuse or neglect may not necessarily trigger the need for a call to the…
Policies & Procedures
Policies for youth-serving organizations in Massachusetts should clearly identify the duties and responsibilities of all staff, reflect both Federal…
Screening & Hiring
A written application provides you with the information you need to assess the background and interests of applicants for your organization’s paid…
Training
When it comes to training your volunteers, there is certain core content that is critical to include in a comprehensive training program to…
Safe Environments
Safe Environments should be created by having clear sight lines, proper staff-to-child ratios, and safety standards for all personnel and…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
Safe Kids Thrive is managed by the Children's Trust of Massachusetts
Learning Center Registration
Sign up for an account and start your learning experience.
Free Online Assessment
Let us help you find out where to start.