Responding to a Crisis: The First 24 Hours and the First Week
In my blog post last week, I covered how to plan ahead and prepare for a crisis. This week, I want to move to how you respond when your worst fears come true. A crisis moves fast in the first 24 hours, then differently in the week that follows. The first 24 hours are about activation and containment. The first week is about communication and follow-through. Here is what to do in both stages.
In the First 24 Hours, Activate Your Team and Meet Your Immediate Obligations
Activate your crisis response team right away. Usually, your child safety coordinator makes the call, tells the team what you know, and gets everyone started on their assigned roles.
Suspend or otherwise isolate the accused person immediately. This applies even to a historic allegation, if the person is still on staff, and even to a student in a student-on-student situation. This step feels unfair, and often it is. It is also a safety decision, not a guilt determination, and it is necessary to protect everyone involved. An organization that leaves an accused person in place while people pile on with more accusations serves no one well, including the accused person.
Make your mandated report. Depending on your state and the details of the allegation, you may owe a report to Child Protective Services, to law enforcement, or to your licensing agency. Whenever you have reasonable grounds to believe a child has suffered abuse of any kind, you have an obligation to report it. Report it to the appropriate authorities.
Notify your insurance carrier if there is any possibility your policy could apply. Insurers can deny coverage on late notice grounds alone. This is not a step to delay while you figure out whether the incident will actually cost you anything. Get your insurer in the loop and let them work on figuring out the details.
Reach Out to the Victim and the Accused, Separately and Objectively
Reach out to both the victim and the person accused. Assign two different people to do this, one for the victim and the victim’s family, one for the accused. Keeping these roles separate protects your objectivity. It also protects you from the appearance that you have already decided how this ends.
Whoever handles each conversation is not there to interview anyone or take a statement. Their job is to express concern, share what information you can share, and treat both people with respect. Sometimes the honest answer is “I can’t tell you anything yet.” That answer beats saying something that turns out to be wrong. It also protects your investigation.
For organizations that have counselors on staff, there is a temptation to ask the mental health professional to take point on communicating with the victim and their family. Be very careful about this decision. Whomever is talking to the victim’s family is doing so as a representative of your organization. They are not setting up a separate therapeutic relationship. Task your counselor with this job only if you are certain they can be clear that they are facilitating communications, not providing mental health services or creating a fiduciary relationship.
Consider a Counseling Stipend, and Start Planning Your Meetings
If it fits your budget, consider offering a stipend toward mental health counseling for a current victim. Have your attorney help you word the offer so it is clearly not an admission of fault. Offering this kind of help is not about picking a side. It is the right thing to do for a family that is hurting. It is worth doing even when you cannot yet confirm what actually happened. Whatever the facts are, they need help that you may be able to provide.
Start planning meetings with your employees or volunteers and with the other families in your program. You cannot realistically hold these meetings within the first 24 hours, but start planning them as soon as possible. Start figuring out what you can tell people and what you cannot, because word travels fast, especially in a smaller program.
Hold the Parent and Employee Meetings You Planned
Once you can, hold the meetings you started planning. Word travels fast, especially in a smaller program, and it will move across social media whether you meet with people or not.
Some of these meetings run calm. Others run hot. If you expect a room full of angry, antagonistic people, consider having someone other than yourself lead the meeting. Bring in outside help from a crisis PR professional who knows how to manage the emotional temperature. Handling this yourself is not a requirement, and delegating it does not mean you are avoiding responsibility.
Whoever leads the meeting, prepare them for the same two questions in different forms, over and over. Parents want to know whether their children were safe and will be safe in the future. Write down your answers to the hardest versions of those questions before you walk into the room. If you end up holding more than one session, make sure every person on your team gives a consistent answer.
Set the Confidentiality Rules Correctly for Each Audience
Employees are different from parents, and your confidentiality expectations should reflect that. Most employees have already signed a confidentiality provision as part of their employment agreement. Remind them that it applies here and hold them to it.
Do not ask parents to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Parents owe your organization no obligation of confidentiality, and asking for one looks like you are hiding something. You owe them answers. Asking them to promise silence in exchange for information sends exactly the wrong message at exactly the wrong time.
Answer the Real Question Each Group Is Asking
Employees want to know if their job is safe. Parents want to know if their child is safe. Both questions are legitimate, and both deserve an honest answer, even when the honest answer is that you do not know yet.
“I don’t know, but give me your contact information and I will find out” is a complete, honest answer. It only works if you actually follow through and circle back once you know more. Skipping the follow-up turns an honest answer into a broken promise.
Keep Talking After the First Meeting
The first meeting is not the end of your communication. New questions will surface. New stories may run in local media. Plan on follow-up emails as a matter of course, not as an exception. Keep applying the same principles of honesty and confidentiality each time you send one.
Push Your Internal Investigation Forward, and Update Your Board
Early in the week, decide whether you are handling the investigation internally or bringing in an independent investigator. The size and sensitivity of the allegation usually drives that call. Getting it settled early keeps the rest of the week from stalling while people wait to know who is in charge.
Finishing your internal investigation within the first week would be ideal, but it is not always realistic. Small issues may wrap up quickly. Bigger ones will take longer, and that is normal.
Regardless of how long the full investigation takes, aim to give your board a preliminary report within the first week. Keep it to what you actually know. Cover the general nature of the allegation, the immediate safety steps you have already taken, who is handling the investigation, and what happens next. Keep updating them on a regular basis after that.
Investigations that drag on without any word to the board or to families start to look like you are hiding something, even when you are not. That perception damages your organization’s credibility as much as the underlying incident does.
Coordinate with Law Enforcement and Your Insurer
If law enforcement or Child Protective Services is involved, expect them to come back and ask for more documents as their process continues. Keep responding. If a request seems to conflict with confidentiality obligations under your licensing regulations, do not simply refuse and do not simply hand everything over. Ask for a written release or loop in your attorney.
If your insurer has assigned an attorney to represent you, follow his or her guidance closely. At the same time, stay engaged yourself. An assigned defense attorney manages your legal exposure. Your organization still has to manage its relationships with families, staff, and the community. That part of the job does not transfer to anyone else.
None of This Ends When the Week Does
The first week sets the tone, but the process continues well beyond it. It may end in a lawsuit, a criminal case, or nothing at all. Keep communicating with parents and employees. Keep working with investigators. Keep your board informed. The organizations that come through a crisis with their reputation intact usually treated the first week as the start of a rhythm. They did not treat it as the finish line.
Want to go deeper? Our on-demand course, Responding to Serious Incidents and Allegations, covers this full process, from activation through resolution.
