Your 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…
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.
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…
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…
Reporting
The “Protective Intake Policy” framework was designed “to clearly articulate a primary and immediate focus on child safety in screening and…
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
Staff and volunteers must be trained on child abuse prevention, including the signs and symptoms of child abuse. In order to identify and vet these…
Safe Environments
Standards should be implemented to ensure safe physical spaces for children, such as clear sight–lines and visitor procedures. To ensure child…
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…
Monitoring Behavior
Monitoring Behavior is the responsibility of all staff to hold each other accountable for appropriate behaviors and to report inappropriate conduct…
Sustainability
Long-term organizational change is a process of continuous review, evaluation, and communication. It includes regularly examining what is working…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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