Developing the Code of Conduct
For your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) to ensure the safety of the children it serves, there must be a set of principles to guide the environment…
Home / Code of Conduct / Guidelines for Interactions at Your Organization
It’s essential that interactions between your employees/volunteers and the youth you serve are appropriate and positive, support positive youth development, make children and youth feel valued, and provide the caring connections that serve to protect them. At the same time, inappropriate or harmful interactions put children and youth at risk for adverse physical and emotional outcomes.
That’s why it’s important that you identify behaviors that fall into the categories of appropriate, inappropriate, and harmful. Your Code of Conduct should explain those categorizations, and the expected responses when inappropriate or harmful behaviors are observed—up to and including a report to the Department of Children and Families.
For example, Codes of Conduct generally try to draw attention to the power differential between adults/authority figures and children/youth, and the importance of appropriate physical, emotional, and verbal boundaries. And they emphasize the use of discretion when touching a child, defining appropriate and inappropriate touch.
Physical contact between adults and the children/youth they supervise should always be public, age-appropriate, and non-sexual in nature. Establishing guidelines includes identifying a balance between encouraging positive and appropriate interactions and discouraging inappropriate and harmful interactions. With this balance in mind, your strategies can ensure that youth can benefit from your program without risk of sexual abuse or harm.
The boundaries between appropriate, inappropriate, and harmful behaviors aren’t always clear. If inappropriate or harmful behaviors do occur, it’s critically important that anyone who observes those behaviors feels free to speak up—even if they are unsure what to do next—and knows who in the reporting chain they need to contact. Some questionable behaviors can be handled internally with closer supervision; others need to be reported to law enforcement and/or the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. Communication from leadership and supervisors is key. It’s critical that you reinforce your general safety policies and Code of Conduct through supervision, at staff meetings, and during other training and professional development opportunities. That way, conversations about behaviors become more normalized and less reluctant. When this is accomplished, it will be easier and safer for your staff and volunteers to talk about any day-to-day behaviors that cause concern—and the safer your environment will be for everyone.
Your Code of Conduct can also help to clarify certain behaviors and circumstances, so everyone is on the same page. These include:
Code of Conduct
For your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) to ensure the safety of the children it serves, there must be a set of principles to guide the environment…
Policies & Procedures
Sample Policies & Procedures You can find examples of policies and procedures from organizations whose mission is to serve and protect…
Sustainability
In order to uphold a culture of safety at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO), communication between leadership, staff and volunteers must focus…
Policies & Procedures
Policies for youth-serving organizations in Massachusetts should clearly identify the duties and responsibilities of all staff, reflect both Federal…
Monitoring Behavior
Your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) should develop a protocol to keep staff and volunteers accountable for their behaviors. Identify the…
Safe Environments
Safe Environments should be created by having clear sight lines, proper staff-to-child ratios, and safety standards for all personnel and…
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 …
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…
Screening & Hiring
Additional screening and hiring measures should be implemented based on the specific needs, responsibilities, and risks of your Youth-Serving…
Reporting
Staff and volunteers should have a detailed understanding of their responsibility to report child abuse and neglect. At your YSO (Youth-Serving…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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