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 in 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 to 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.  

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