Whatcom Family YMCA

Child Abuse Prevention Policies for Staff & Volunteers

A foundational commitment of the YMCA is to provide a healthy atmosphere for the growth and development of children. Thus, the abuse, mistreatment or neglect of children and the resulting severe effects are of primary concern to the Y. Child abuse is mistreatment or neglect of a child by parent(s) or others, including Y employees or volunteers, resulting in injury or harm. Abuse can lead to severe emotional, physical and behavioral problems. Because of its concern for the welfare of children, the Y has developed policies, standards, guidelines and training to aid in the detection and prevention of child abuse. In addition, all employees and volunteers are screened and a background check is conducted upon hiring, rehiring or at any time the Y desires to do so. All employees or volunteers will also receive training in recognizing signs that a child is being groomed for abuse. This policy is intended to protect any Y participant under 18 and participants may be referred to as children, child, youth, teen and the like. The policies employees and volunteers are expected to follow include:

General Guidelines:

• All staff and volunteers will be easily identified by wearing YMCA issued name tags and/or Staff T-shirts.

• Youth 11 years old and under must be in direct supervision of a supervising individual at all times.

• Rooms that allow for unnecessary privacy or limit line-of-sight supervision will remained locked or will be routinely checked by staff.

• The organization has zero tolerance for abuse, mistreatment, or sexual activity among youth within the organization. This organization is committed to providing all youth with a safe environment and will not tolerate the mistreatment or abuse of one youth by another youth. Conduct by youth that rises to the level of abuse, mistreatment, or sexual activity will result in intervention or disciplinary action, up to and including, dismissal from the program.

• In addition, our organization will not tolerate any behavior that is classified under the definition of bullying, and the organization will take the necessary steps to eliminate such behavior.

• All staff and volunteers will be aware and acknowledge of the Member Code of Conduct

Working with Children Guidelines:

• You will avoid being alone with a single child, unless you are supervising your own child.

• In the rare occasion that you are forced to be in a situation where you are one-on-one with a child, you must follow the following guidelines:

Notify other employees or volunteers that you are alone with a child.
Remain in full view of others and if a room, leave the door open. o Ensure physical and verbal interactions align with our established policies and are limited to the task at hand.
Document and immediately report any unusual incidents, including disclosures of abuse or maltreatment, behavior problems and how they were handled, injuries, or any interactions that might be misinterpreted.

• Staff and volunteers must not develop a one on one relationship or have one on one contact with children who participate in YMCA programs outside of approved YMCA activities without the advanced written approval of your supervisor or volunteer coordinator; for example, babysitting, weekend trips, foster care, etc. are not permitted. Prior relationships with participants will be documented and brought to the attention of the supervisor or volunteer coordinator and/or CEO.

• Dating a program participant under age 18 is not allowed.

• Staff and volunteers may not transport youth participants to and from YMCA activities/programs in their own vehicles, unless they are your own child or family member, without prior written approval from your supervisor/CEO or volunteer coordinator.

• Giving gifts to children in Y programs is not allowed.

• Children shall not be disciplined by use of physical punishment or by failing to provide the necessities of care in any circumstance.

• Employees and volunteers are prohibited from speaking to youth in a way that is, or could be construed by any observer, as harsh, coercive, threatening, intimidating, shaming, derogatory, demeaning, or humiliating. Employees or volunteers must not initiate sexually oriented conversations, or discuss their own sexual activities with participants. Discussions in front of children should never include content regarding the personal life of staff, volunteers or other program participants.

• All physical contact between staff or volunteers and youth will promote a positive, nurturing environment while protecting youth, employees and volunteers, and will be defined according to the age group. Staff and volunteers are expected to respect children’s wishes and boundaries with regard to any physical contact.

Children have the right to say “no” to physical contact unless such contact is related to the child’s physical, health and safety or safety of other participants.
Affection shown should never be done in isolated areas where staff or volunteers are not visible to other adults o Other than diapering, children are not to be touched in areas of their bodies that would be covered by a bathing suit.
In addition, children must be informed in a manner that is age appropriate to the group, of their right to set their own “touching” limits. Any inappropriate physical contact by employees or volunteers towards children in our programs will result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

Social Media Guidelines:

• Any private electronic communication between staff or volunteers and youth under the age of 18, including the use of social networks, i.e. Facebook, Snapchat, texting and messaging is prohibited. All forms of electronic communication must be copied to the staff’s supervisor, the volunteer’s coordinator and parent of the youth.

• Communication through “organization group pages” on Facebook or any other approved forums is the only acceptable form of interaction with youth through social media.

• Staff and volunteers are not allowed to take photos of, or keep, or share pictures of youth participants on their personal devices.

• Staff and volunteers are prohibited from possessing or viewing inappropriate information or pornography on the organization’s property or equipment. This includes any messages, communications or materials that are sexually oriented or those that depict pornography or nudity.

• Staff and volunteers will use best efforts to prevent all youth and teen program participants from taking pictures or videos of other youth in the facilities and/or program areas.

Program Guidelines:

• Youths will be greeted when entering the facility and directed to their structured activity or authorized area.

• Youth will be signed in to programs by parent or staff/volunteer Youth will be signed out by a parent/ guardian, or those authorized by the parent/guardian only. Anyone signing out a child from a program must be at least 16 years old. Programs required to implement this sign out procedure are, but not limited to, child care, day camps, Girls on the Run and Trailblazers and swim team participants 11 years and younger.

• Some program areas are closed to public access and those areas will be monitored by staff and volunteers to prevent unauthorized entry and/or observation.

• All youth guidelines are considered part of the Child Abuse Prevention Policy.

• No youth will be permitted to attend a YMCA program or activity without a current Registration, Emergency, Consent (REC) form or program roster on file in the office and possession of the staff supervising the program. Activities open to the public are the exception to this policy.

• Each program area is responsible for establishing specific guidelines for additional monitoring and supervision of activities that involve youth from different age groups. Close line of sight is essential and required for programs serving mixed- age groups.

• All programs will have policies specific to use of facility bathrooms and locker rooms, transitions, playground monitoring, transportation, field trips and overnight activities.

Reporting Suspicious or Inappropriate Behaviors or Policy Violations:

• Because our organization is dedicated to maintaining zero tolerance of abuse, it is imperative that every staff member actively participates in the protection of youth. In the event that staff observe any suspicious or inappropriate behaviors and/or policy violations on the part of other staff or volunteers, it is their personal responsibility to immediately report their observations. Remember, at our organization, the policies apply to everyone.

• Examples of suspicious or inappropriate behaviors between staff and youth

Violation of the abuse prevention policies described above o Seeking private time or one-on-one time with youth
Buying gifts for individual youth
Making suggestive comments to youth
Picking favorites

• If staff witness suspicious or inappropriate behaviors or policy violations from another staff or volunteer, the staff or volunteer is instructed to do the following:

Interrupt the behavior
Report the behavior to a supervisor, director, or other authority
If you are not comfortable making the report directly you are able to call the Fraud Hotline and make it anonymously
If the report is about a supervisor or administrator, contact the next level of management
Document the report but do not conduct an investigation
Keep reporting until the appropriate action is taken

Reporting Suspected Abuse Guidelines:

• Any information regarding abuse or potential abuse must be documented in writing. All staff and volunteers are required to sign a statement informing them of their legal and ethical duty to report suspected child abuse or neglect.

• As required by mandated reporting laws, employee and volunteers must report any and all disclosures or suspected abuse or neglect, whether on or off property, to state authorities. In addition, any suspected or known abuse or neglect will be reported to the department supervisor or a member of management within 12 hours. Failure to do so will be grounds for termination.

• In the event that the YMCA has reason to believe that a staff or volunteer member abused a child, his or her conduct will be reported to the appropriate authorities including the Bellingham Police Department and Child Protective Services. The employee will be separated from any possible contact with children.

• Confidentiality of information related to child abuse is crucial and should be limited to the immediate supervisor and CEO/Executive Director, designated staff or volunteers or member(s) and legal counsel.

• Employees and volunteers are required to fully cooperate with an investigation by the YMCA, any law enforcement agency, or any other authorized outside agency. Failure to do so is considered misconduct and will result in termination, or ineligibility to volunteer.

• Any form of abuse or mistreatment of one youth to another will be reported to a supervisor and taken seriously and appropriate action will follow.

• There will be no retaliation against an employee who, in good faith, reports suspected abuse.

Additional guidelines for employee and volunteer response to incidents or allegations of abuse:

• If you witness abuse, safely interrupt the behavior immediately.

• If abuse is disclosed to you, assure the individual disclosing that he or she was correct to tell you.

• Protect the alleged victim from intimidation, retribution, or further abuse to the extent possible.

• Be sure to document the incident, disclosure, or any circumstances causing your suspicion of abuse according to incident reporting and documentation requirements. State only the facts.

• It is not your job to investigate the incident, but it is your job to report the incident to your supervisor in a timely manner.

• Check back to make sure appropriate steps were taken. If not, report again to your supervisor or the designated organization authority.

All staff and volunteers are required to sign a statement indicating that they have read and agree to comply with all organizational policies as outlined in the Whatcom Family YMCA Employee or Volunteer Handbook.

Review of all youth abuse prevention policies for relevance, utility, necessity and modifications or deletions, as appropriate, will be conducted annually. All staff and volunteers will be systematically notified of any changes as they are implemented.

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