How to Implement a Screening Policy
Start with Basic Screening It is very important that all applicants who provide direct services and who are seeking positions of trust—either…
Home / Monitoring Behavior / Sustaining the Monitoring Behavior Protocol
Develop a culture of child safety at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) using your Monitoring Behavior protocol that includes leadership-driven feedback and encouraging mutual responsibility with staff and volunteers. Sustaining a culture of safety over time involves supervising and continually training staff and volunteers on the protocol.
To maintain your Monitoring Behavior protocol:
Use individual supervision, performance reviews, and staff meetings to talk about the Code of Conduct and provide staff feedback on observed behaviors. Your Code of Conduct should act as a resource to aid discussions around appropriate, inappropriate, and harmful behaviors with staff and volunteers. Use supervision, performance reviews, and staff meetings to highlight expected behaviors and redirect inappropriate or harmful behaviors.
Provide ongoing trainings that reinforce your Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics. Continually emphasize the importance of the Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics to inform staff and volunteer’s interactions with children. Set aside time to train and reinforce staff and volunteers’ knowledge of expected behaviors, as outlined in the Code of Conduct.
Ensure all concerns are addressed and any harmful behaviors are reported to the Department of Children and Families and law enforcement. Inappropriate or concerning behaviors should be addressed immediately when observed or disclosed. Harmful and illegal behaviors must be reported to the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Your protocol and reporting chain should address when, how, and to whom to report all concerns.
Review the results of the staff surveys and internal audits to identify areas for improvement, staff accountability, and transparency. Using surveys and other assessments, determine areas of need in your YSO and apply interventions where appropriate. Sustain open communication with staff and volunteers to inform interventions that increase child safety at your YSO.
Assess your protocol and implement changes based on findings. Use surveys and audits to assess the current implementation of the Monitoring Behavior protocol. Changes should be made based on the responses and feedback of those at the organization.
Maintaining Monitoring Behaviors at your YSO requires input from everyone involved in your organization. Use leadership activities such as supervision and staff meetings to reinforce Monitoring Behavior expectations while also gaining insight on protocol implementation from staff and volunteers at your organization. Making conversations about behavior normative at your organization is proactive and serves to increase child safety.
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…
Reporting
Who Are Mandated Reporters? Massachusetts law defines a number of professionals as mandated reporters (for the full list, see MGL Chapter 119,…
Training
Training Best Practices To protect the children/youth you serve, your organization needs a comprehensive framework: a set of abuse prevention…
Sustainability
Common Implementation Roadblocks Natural conflicts exist between strategy and culture. These conflicts—if left unaddressed— predict that…
Reporting
Staff and volunteers at the YSO (Youth-Serving Organization) should be proficient in discussing abuse and responding to disclosures of abuse. YSO…
Screening & Hiring
Finding staff and volunteers you can trust to work with children includes additional steps beyond interviewing and checking references. …
Safe Environments
In the past, youth-serving organizations needed to worry about safety only within the physical environment—the building(s) where their services…
Training
Once you have identified your training expectations and standards and have researched current and available local and national training, explore…
Screening & Hiring
Certain organizations, such as public schools and licensed childcare programs, must also query national criminal record and fingerprint-based…
Sustainability
Long-term organizational change is a process of continuous review, evaluation, and communication. It includes regularly examining what is working…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
Learning Center Registration
Sign up for an account and start your learning experience.
Free Online Assessment
Let us help you find out where to start.