One of the difficulties in fashioning strong child protection policies is that there is little evidence about what actually works. Often, all we can do is reason backward from incidents, hoping that closing a loophole that a particular abuser exploited will prevent abuse in the…
A recent lawsuit offers some important lessons in child protection policies for youth-serving organizations (YSOs). A school resource officer (SRO) has filed suit in Savannah, Georgia, alleging that his supervisors retaliated against him for reporting allegations by two high school students that another SRO had sexually abused…
Having a claim that a child has been injured in your program is every youth organization’s worst nightmare. Fortunately, you can start developing steps in your child protection policy that will help you be better prepared to deal with such a claim. By planning ahead,…
The beginning of a new year is a traditional time to make new plans. For youth organizations, it is also a good time to take a close look at child protection policies to determine which ones to keep or change going forward. Not only will…
Numerous mental health studies suggest that one of the best ways to help children develop resilience and recover…