Community interaction and involvement is important in maintaining a culture of safety surrounding your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO). In order to address updates and maintenance of safety and prevention efforts, regular reviews and data collection are required.  

To appropriately evaluate safety policies:  

An identified individual or team leads ongoing child sexual abuse prevention efforts, serves as a resource for staff, and is staffed and supported by leadership. Your organization should appoint a staff member or team to lead child sexual abuse prevention efforts. This team is responsible for discussing safety efforts with staff as well as addressing any safety concerns.  

Utilize checklists and other data collection methods to support day-to-day adherence to all policies and procedures and the attitudes and behaviors that support compliance. Child safety policies and procedures should be adhered to, and regular checks should be administered to confirm this. Utilizing checklists and data collection help ascertain that these policies are being followed.  

Implement annual policy reviews, internal audits, and after-incident reports and incorporate improvements to maximize program effectiveness. Regularly review child safety policies in order to assess whether your safety goals are being maintained at your organization. Use reviews and audits to make necessary improvements or adjustments to policies and procedures.  

Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the entire child safety and abuse prevention framework every three years. Your organization should analyze child safety and abuse prevention efforts, at least every three years, to guarantee they are up to date and effective. These reviews should inform any changes made to child abuse prevention policies.  

Collect, analyze, and utilize data gathered to measure progress and ensure your child sexual abuse prevention plans are working to achieve desired outcomes. Collecting staff and organizational performance data can help you to better understand the progress and impact of your child sexual abuse prevention policies. Ask questions about how the policies are working and how they can be improved to achieve the most positive outcomes.  

Evaluate internal and external communication to ensure stakeholders, partners, and your community are kept informed and included in your prevention efforts. Examine your organization’s communication with those both inside and outside of the organization to be sure they are being updated regularly. Community members and stakeholders should be part of child abuse prevention efforts.  

Your YSO’s commitment to safety should also include utilizing regular reviews, audits, and data collection in order to make effective decisions about child safety. Use these methods in order to make additions or revisions to the current policies and procedures. 

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