Massachusetts Law on Reporting Requirements
Mandated reporters are required to immediately report suspicions of child abuse and neglect to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families…
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Home / Sustainability / Strategies for Implementing Systemic Change
Organizational changes are challenging enough, but the issue of child sexual abuse prevention and what you can do to better protect the children/youth in your care comes with extra challenges. This particular change forces everyone in your organization to consider the uncomfortable truth of child sexual abuse, and acknowledge the real possibility that the children you seek to support may also be exposed to risk through participation in your programs. The idea that “one of us” could sexually abuse a child is hard for many to accept.
Research from Industrial/Organizational psychologists suggests that true system change in an organization requires strategies and actions that impact the entire structure in positive ways, with outcomes that:
These elements, however, must be part of a process that brings the conversation between you, your managers and supervisors, and your staff and volunteers to a very different level than a set of mandates about new policies, procedures, programs, and timelines. Two important factors in this process are the strategy for change (the roadmap for defining and implementing the changes considered necessary for your organization’s growth or development) and the culture in which the change needs to occur (organizational mindset, history, decision-making style, behaviors, accountability structures, etc.).
Reporting
Mandated reporters are required to immediately report suspicions of child abuse and neglect to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families…
Monitoring Behavior
Your Youth-Serving Organization (YSO) should develop a protocol to keep staff and volunteers accountable for their behaviors. Identify the…
Sustainability
Why Collect Data? “Mathematics” and “measurement” are words that send many of us scurrying for cover, but in the world of organizational…
Code of Conduct
Every YSO has certain risks associated with its activities, functions, and responsibilities—and thinking about those risks is an important part of…
Reporting
It is extremely disturbing for most adults to consider that a colleague or co-worker might be abusing children—but it happens. In these cases,…
Reporting
Recognizing Abuse & Neglect The minimum required safety elements for you to prepare leadership, staff, and volunteers to recognize, respond…
Safe Environments
Ensuring a safe environment for children includes targeting the five major areas of safety: visibility, access, supervision and communication,…
Policies & Procedures
No matter how large or small a youth-serving organization is, or what services it provides, every organization shares the desire to keep…
Training
Training for Different Audiences Training programs designed to prevent child sexual abuse take many forms and contain varying levels of detail,…
Training
Whether designed in-house, provided by a government or state agency, or purchased from a commercial vendor, workplace training programs can take…
Customized child sexual abuse prevention guidelines to meet the unique needs of any organization that serves children.
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