Implementing the 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…
Home / Safe Environments / Checklist for Safety Checks in Your Facility
Child development and school-age programs operate in many different types of facilities. Your program might operate within a dedicated Child Development Center, in a renovated elementary school, a community center, or a variety of other settings. Regardless of floor plan or design elements, all programs share several key characteristics that protect children from harm. These features promote visibility and enable active supervision of children at all times (depending on the age and design of your facility, it may not have all of these features):
There are additional design elements that help ensure children are safe. According to Koralek’s guide to preventing child abuse and neglect in center settings (1993), these include:
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…
Screening & Hiring
One way you can help prevent child sexual abuse within your organization is by screening out those at risk to cause harm—before they are hired …
Training
Training should be used to increase knowledge and awareness of child abuse prevention, to teach staff about responding to children who disclose…
Safe Environments
Ensuring a safe environment for children includes targeting the five major areas of safety: visibility, access, supervision and communication,…
Screening & Hiring
Additional screening and hiring measures should be implemented based on the specific needs, responsibilities, and risks of your Youth-Serving…
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…
Reporting
When a member of your staff suspects that a child is being abused and/or neglected, they are required to immediately call your local Department of…
Screening & Hiring
Start with Basic Screening It is very important that all applicants who provide direct services and who are seeking positions of trust—either…
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…
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…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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