Further Considerations for Safe Environments
Safe Environments should be created by having clear sight lines, proper staff-to-child ratios, and safety standards for all personnel and…
Home / Monitoring Behavior / Promoting a Culture of Safety
Protocols should be developed in order to inform staff and volunteers about supervision, communication, and reporting procedures at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO). Leadership should invest time in promoting the culture of child safety using Monitoring Behaviors.
To foster a culture of safety:
Encourage staff to view safety as a priority and mutual responsibility, encourage questions, establish ongoing communication, and provide support to build trust. Highlight the importance of staff and volunteers in supporting, building, and maintaining a community grounded on your organization’s mission of safety. Utilize supervision and staff meetings to communicate and clarify a consistent message that protecting children is everyone’s responsibility.
Provide positive feedback when observing expected and appropriate behaviors. Reinforce appropriate behaviors with praise, providing staff and volunteers with recognition for positive conduct. Utilize feedback to highlight instances of staff and volunteers’ positive interactions with children.
Ensure leadership is present, models appropriate behavior, supports positive interactions, and intervenes when needed. Leadership should illustrate the expected behaviors your organization would like staff and volunteers to exhibit. Leadership should also use supervision and direction in instances where intervention is necessary.
Conduct annual surveys and audits to gather information from staff, volunteers, children, and parents including questions about boundaries and appropriate behaviors. Regularly ask for feedback from all stakeholders involved in your organization in order to understand their perspectives on how the guidelines, policies, and rules about expected and prohibited behaviors are being implemented. Encourage communication with staff and families regarding the specific needs of those at your organization.
Equip parents with information about your child sexual abuse prevention plans. Share your organization’s plan for child safety with the families involved in your organization. Maintain open communication with families about your commitment to safety and solicit their feedback.
Apply your Monitoring Behavior protocol to your YSO by encouraging open communication and feedback between leadership, staff, and volunteers. Involve families, staff, and volunteers in conversations about behaviors, policy development, and child safety.
Safe Environments
Safe Environments should be created by having clear sight lines, proper staff-to-child ratios, and safety standards for all personnel and…
Training
The approaches in the chart below can provide frameworks that make your organization most effective when training adults and/or children/youth….
Sustainability
Depending on the size of your youth-serving organization, the data you’ll need to collect and analyze—or even simply summarize—could be…
Screening & Hiring
Your Youth-Serving Organization’s (YSO’s) hiring process should include basic screening measures for potential staff and volunteers through…
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…
Reporting
Mandated reporters are required to immediately report suspicions of child abuse and neglect to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families…
Reporting
Physical and Behavioral Indicators of Abuse Type of AbusePhysical IndicatorsBehavioral IndicatorsPhysical Abuse● Unexplained bruises (in…
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…
Training
Your organization has the opportunity to support and empower young people to feel confident, protected, and safe in their homes and communities….
Sustainability
Community interaction and involvement is important in maintaining a culture of safety surrounding your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO). In order to…
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
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