Step up and speak
A parent’ s guide to selecting youth organizations
Between All Star practice, school and piano lessons, your child is frequently in the care of many different adults. By stepping up and speaking out to youth-serving organizations in your community, you have the power to protect your child and countless others against child sexual abuse.
Organizations should be ready and willing to talk about their prevention measures. Following are some proactive questions to help you start the conversation.
Is there a child protection policy? Youth-serving organizations should have clearly defined child protection policies.
Does the policy include limiting isolated one-on-one situations? One-on-one time is important to a child’ s emotional growth and development, but it does not have to happen behind closed doors. Oneon-one interactions should take place in an open, observable and interruptible setting.
How are staff and volunteers screened? Staff screening best practices include an in-depth application, personal and professional references, criminal background check and an extensive interview.
Do older and younger children interact? Is so, how? Supervising contact between children and older / bigger youth requires structure and adult supervision. There should be separate areas and activities for different age groups. Make it clear that you would always like an adult present with your child.
DARKNESS TO LIGHT https:// www. d2l. org National Helpline: 866. For. Light
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