Research and Identify Trainings
Staff and volunteers must be trained on child abuse prevention, including the signs and symptoms of child abuse. In order to identify and vet these…
Home / Screening & Hiring / What Is a Screening & Hiring Process?
Screening means thorough reference and background checks, including review of criminal and sexual offender records, for all employees, staff, volunteers, and community members whose potential employment or volunteer service involves direct contact with or the potential for unmonitored access to children (including individuals who provide transportation to children). Screening for child sexual abuse should be purposefully integrated into your standard screening and selection process for both paid and volunteer positions. All candidates for a particular position should undergo the same screening process.
Beyond employees and volunteers, it may also be appropriate to ask vendors and contractors for your organization to provide evidence that a background check was completed on any individual they send to provide your services. A background check may not be necessary if the vendor or contractor is not providing direct services to children and youth, is restricted to the area where the service is being provided, or can either be accompanied or observed. In each case, adults in your organization should know that vendor/contractor personnel are on your premises and that children/youth are not to be permitted near the workspace unaccompanied.
It’s important to note that employee and volunteer screening and selection are important, but aren’t by themselves a guarantee of safety—so they should be integrated with the many other measures and efforts we describe as part of a broader plan to prevent child sexual abuse at your organization. You must also continue to maintain vigilance and ensure that all staff members, employees, and volunteers receive adequate training, supervision, and management support to fulfill the organization’s mission. Staff screening can be time-consuming, and fees may be associated with some background checks—but that cost would be significantly exceeded by the cost of your failure to screen, should subsequent harm come to children you serve.
A well-designed screening process, in combination with the other practices outlined on this website, is an investment in the future of your youth-serving organization and the safety and wellbeing of the children and youth you serve.
Training
Staff and volunteers must be trained on child abuse prevention, including the signs and symptoms of child abuse. In order to identify and vet these…
Screening & Hiring
Because the internet and social media are a rich source of information about prospective candidates, and social media is perceived as a forum in…
Policies & Procedures
Sample Self-Audit Form for YSOs You can use the following “Self-Audit” form to take an inventory of your youth-serving organization’s abuse…
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…
Training
Training Program Design Checklist Each youth-serving organization is unique, and each community has its own set of values, strengths, and…
Reporting
Thinking of children or youth as capable of sexually abusing other children or youth can be difficult to consider and challenging to address. In…
Reporting
The term Human Trafficking is used by Department of Children and Families (DCF) as an umbrella term used to include two specific allegations of…
Safe Environments
How is Your Facility Designed to Keep Children Safe? Child development and school-age programs operate in many different types of facilities….
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…
Training
Once you have identified your training expectations and standards and have researched current and available local and national training, explore…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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