National Child Abuse Prevention Month reminds us of the importance of organizations and community members working together to prevent child abuse and neglect. In April each year, we are reminded of the staggering rate of child abuse and neglect that occurs in the United States. Every nine minutes, Child Protective Services substantiates or finds evidence of child sexual abuse. Ninety-three percent of these victims know their abuser. The effects of child sexual abuse and neglect often include long and short-term mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, various physical/medical issues, suicide and increased incidents of substance abuse.
April is a good annual reminder to child serving organizations to conduct an annual review of the organization’s child abuse policies and procedures to assure that they are up to date, implemented, and comprehensive. If the organization has not had an independent external child abuse prevention checkup recently, the organization may want to retain an expert in the field to review the organization’s policies and procedures to ensure best practices.
It is important that child serving organizations routinely update policies to incorporate current best practices, including new legal requirements, current definitions, revised mandatory reporting requirements, comprehensive and exhaustive background check requirements, and safe environment practices.
While having cutting edge policies and procedures is fundamental to child safety, an organization must also put these policies and procedures into practice. Best practices are only effective if they are implemented consistently, and organizations must start with making sure that their staff is appropriately trained in relevant child prevention topics, such as recognizing indicators of child physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as child neglect; understanding and identifying grooming tactics; understanding authority figure abuse; knowing how to appropriately respond and accurately document reports of sexual or physical abuse; and addressing secondary trauma and preventing burnout.
A vital aspect of building and maintaining public trust for any child serving organization includes transparency. Child serving organizations may want to consider an independent review to evaluate the organization’s historic and current culture pertaining to the handling of child abuse and neglect reports as well as related concerns. Assessments and investigations of lingering historic allegations of abuse or neglect allow the organization to learn, take responsibility, and move forward with best practices for protecting children and providing environments where children flourish. A thorough investigation and implementation of recommendations may help build trust and transparency with community members. An assessment of the current culture may further assure the community that both leadership and staff are appropriately trained, and child focused regarding the protection of children.
Additionally, if an organization has not had a recent review of the physical security program, a security expert can help identify potential threats, assess the probability of an occurrence, evaluate weaknesses and vulnerabilities within existing security programs including the design or structure of facilities, operations, technology, or procedures, evaluate potential security solutions to identify the most effective and suitable options, and include expert guidance and insight to help prioritize competing needs and opportunities. Guidepost’s team of Institutional Integrity experts is available to consult and assist your child and youth serving organization through child abuse prevention and response policy formation and review, tailored training programs, and a third-party independent investigation or cultural assessment. Guidepost’s security experts can also conduct an in-depth review of your existing security programs, associated systems, staffing, and current policies and procedures to ensure your security posture meets best in practice standards. Our comprehensive team can provide unique benefits to your organization based on Guidepost’s extensive experience in past, active and on-going engagements with child and youth serving organizations throughout the country.
[1] Children and Teens: Statistics | RAINN
[2] Children and Teens: Statistics | RAINN
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