Basic Requirements of Screening and Hiring
Your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) should create protocols for the application, interviewing, and screening process. Each step of the process…
Home / Policies & Procedures / What are Policies and Procedures?
Policies and Procedures are an essential backbone of your prevention strategy at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO), providing an overarching written structure that demonstrates your commitment to the safety and well-being of children entrusted to your care.
At minimum, your Policies and Procedures must include:
A mission statement and Code of Ethics that include your organization’s commitment and responsibility to maintain a safe environment for children. Policies and Procedures should be centered around the best interests of children, the values of your organization, and the organization’s role in guaranteeing safety in all settings.
A Code of Conduct that details the expected and prohibited behaviors between staff and children. Your Code of Conduct should cover expected and appropriate behaviors and prohibited and harmful behaviors. It’s not necessary to outline every possible scenario. However, your Code of Conduct should reflect the core standards and principles guiding all your activities.
Screening and Hiring policies that determine the best candidates to be placed in positions of responsibility with children. Screening and Hiring policies must clearly outline how staff and volunteers will be adequately screened and vetted to work with children. This includes implementing a systematic interview process for all staff and volunteers and conducting recommended initial and periodic criminal and sexual offense background checks.
A Safe Environment policy that covers physical and procedural protocols for in-person and virtual environments. Your Safe Environment Policies should include the five categories of safety, including, visibility, access, supervision and communication, transportation, and safe technology use. These policies dictate the type of safe environment you want to build and outlines how you will guarantee the safety of all children in your care.
Monitoring Behavior and Reporting protocols that guide staff on how to recognize, respond, and report abuse. All staff and volunteers are responsible for holding each other accountable for appropriate behaviors and reporting inappropriate behaviors. Additionally, your policies must include clear direction on how and to whom to report suspicions or reports of abuse.
A Training policy that requires all staff to be trained, at hire and annually, in your organization’s child protection policies and protocols. This includes ongoing training on your organization’s policies and procedures, the signs of symptoms of abuse, and how to identify grooming behavior in adults. Training should be accessible to all staff in a variety of learning formats, and used as a tool to heighten awareness, and create a culture of zero-tolerance for abuse.
Policies and Procedures should guide the safety standards at your YSO. Your policies must be continuously referred to and adhered to by all staff and volunteers to ensure that all children are kept safe at your YSO.
Screening & Hiring
Your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) should create protocols for the application, interviewing, and screening process. Each step of the process…
Code of Conduct
It’s essential that interactions between your employees/volunteers and the youth you serve are appropriate and positive, support positive youth…
Training
Training for Different Audiences Training programs designed to prevent child sexual abuse take many forms and contain varying levels of detail,…
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
Safe Environment Strategies: Access Complementing the physical aspects of safety are the procedural aspects of safety and security, and how…
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…
Monitoring Behavior
Monitoring Behavior is the responsibility of all staff to hold each other accountable for appropriate behaviors and to report inappropriate conduct…
Safe Environments
How is Your Facility Designed to Keep Children Safe? Child development and school-age programs operate in many different types of facilities….
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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