Analysis, Review, and Self-Audits: Collecting Data
Depending on the size of your youth-serving organization, the data you’ll need to collect and analyze—or even simply summarize—could be…
Home / Policies & Procedures / What’s in a Child Protection Policy?
Policies for youth-serving organizations in Massachusetts should clearly identify the duties and responsibilities of all staff, reflect both Federal and Massachusetts abuse reporting laws, provide direction to employees, staff, and volunteers who wish to make a report, and define the internal mechanisms to be followed when a case of child abuse or neglect is suspected or being reported. When a crisis occurs, a clearly defined and recognized set of policies and procedures will make the process of reporting go more smoothly, thus helping to reduce the anxiety, any confusion, and reluctance of staff, and protecting children/youth more effectively.
Here’s a list of values that should guide the creation of your child protection policy.
With those values in mind, an effective set of abuse policies for youth-serving organizations should:
Introduce child protection organizational values and Policies and Procedures with all new staff upon hire as part of staff orientation, and review and update this information with all staff on an annual basis.
Sustainability
Depending on the size of your youth-serving organization, the data you’ll need to collect and analyze—or even simply summarize—could be…
Safe Environments
Physically safe spaces, with proper supervision, are required to maintain safety standards at your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO). Ensure policies…
Training
Your organization has the opportunity to support and empower young people to feel confident, protected, and safe in their homes and communities….
Policies & Procedures
Your Policies and Procedures must be continuously referred to throughout the year. At a minimum, an annual review of all policies and procedures…
Sustainability
Community interaction and involvement is important in maintaining a culture of safety surrounding your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO). In order to…
Reporting
Effective reporting structures rely on staff and volunteers’ recognition of signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect. The Youth-Serving…
Training
Training Program Design Checklist Each youth-serving organization is unique, and each community has its own set of values, strengths, and…
Training
Ideally, all children/youth should receive training and education on issues of personal safety and abuse prevention. Personal safety and child…
Training
The approaches in the chart below can provide frameworks that make your organization most effective when training adults and/or children/youth….
Reporting
When a member of your staff suspects that a child is being abused and/or neglected, they are required to immediately call your local Department of…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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