DCF: What Happens When a Report Is Made?
The “Protective Intake Policy” framework was designed “to clearly articulate a primary and immediate focus on child safety in screening and…
Home / Safe Environments / Safe Environment Strategies: Visibility
Whether or not you can control the design of your space, physical safety depends on your ability to continuously account for all the children and youth in your care. From this perspective, visibility is key to protecting children and youth. Being seen is the greatest fear of those who would bully, assault, steal from, sexually abuse, or otherwise victimize children. Therefore, you should take actions within your means to design, build, or adapt your existing spaces to maximize visibility; to minimize or eliminate space where children and youth cannot be seen; and to establish policies and procedures for access to and use of the space (when both on- and off-site). Those policies should include:
*Find more information on staff-to-child ratios from the American Camp Association, and the Massachusetts Afterschool Research Study Report.
Overnight trips present different challenges related to visibility. If youth are staying in hotel/motel rooms, policies and procedures should:
Reporting
The “Protective Intake Policy” framework was designed “to clearly articulate a primary and immediate focus on child safety in screening and…
Code of Conduct
Keep in mind that a Code of Conduct is limited; it usually refers only to the most common and expected behaviors staff/volunteers may encounter each…
Reporting
Physical and Behavioral Indicators of Abuse Type of AbusePhysical IndicatorsBehavioral IndicatorsPhysical Abuse● Unexplained bruises (in…
Sustainability
Common Implementation Roadblocks Natural conflicts exist between strategy and culture. These conflicts—if left unaddressed— predict that…
Monitoring Behavior
Your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) should develop a protocol to keep staff and volunteers accountable for their behaviors. Identify the…
Training
Training for Different Audiences Training programs designed to prevent child sexual abuse take many forms and contain varying levels of detail,…
Reporting
Recognizing Abuse & Neglect The minimum required safety elements for you to prepare leadership, staff, and volunteers to recognize, respond…
Screening & Hiring
Your Youth-Serving Organization’s (YSO’s) hiring process should include basic screening measures for potential staff and volunteers through…
Training
Training Contractors, Consultants, and Interns When it comes to training your contractors, consultants, and interns, there is certain core…
Training
A Model for Evaluation: Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Every training course needs a method of collecting feedback to ensure a course is…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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