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 / Screening & Hiring / Screening Toolbox: Observation of the Applicant & Home Assessment
When possible, it can be informative to observe an applicant in your environment with the child(ren) and youth you serve, to look for potential red flags. If this is done pre-hire, and before the background checks are complete, make sure the individual is supervised and monitored at all times by current (cleared) staff. If there are behaviors, actions, or statements that are concerning, do not ignore them. While it doesn’t necessarily mean there is a problem, it may be a potential issue that needs further observation or inquiry.
For certain positions such as respite providers, tutors, or mentors that involve children and youth meeting with staff in their homes, it’s especially important to immediately discuss concerns, reiterate the child safety policies of your organization, and be clear that your Code of Conduct is taken seriously and strictly enforced when it comes to the safety of children and youth you serve. In addition, depending on the mission of your organization, you may need to assess an applicant’s home environment. For example, a home assessment would be essential for a mentoring program where youth meet with mentors at their homes, but may be irrelevant and inappropriate for other organizations, such as overnight camps or afterschool programs.
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…
Safe Environments
Standards should be implemented to ensure safe physical spaces for children, such as clear sight–lines and visitor procedures. To ensure child…
Sustainability
Long-term organizational change is a process of continuous review, evaluation, and communication. It includes regularly examining what is working…
Screening & Hiring
Finding staff and volunteers you can trust to work with children includes additional steps beyond interviewing and checking references. …
Reporting
Physical and Behavioral Indicators of Abuse Type of AbusePhysical IndicatorsBehavioral IndicatorsPhysical Abuse● Unexplained bruises (in…
Screening & Hiring
By checking a candidate’s references, you can obtain additional information about applicants and help verify their previous work and volunteer…
Code of Conduct
Your Code of Conduct will be unique to your organization, based on your size, purpose, location, staffing, ages served, additional vulnerabilities…
Screening & Hiring
Finding and retaining a qualified and diverse workforce is one of the greatest challenges for youth-serving organizations like yours. Given the…
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…
Monitoring Behavior
Monitoring Behavior is the responsibility of all staff to hold each other accountable for appropriate behaviors and to report inappropriate conduct…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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