Prevention Guide for Youth Organizations

How Can Your Organization Prevent Sexual Abuse?

Youth organizations should schedule regular self-assessments to identify any faults or weaknesses in their sexual abuse prevention program.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a downloadable guide to help organizations adopt or adapt their prevention strategies.

You can download the CDC’s guide here:

The guide walks your organization through not only creating a safe environment where children grow, learn and have fun, but an organizational culture that approaches child abuse with awareness, which is vital for prevention.

The report includes practical guides to:

• Screening and selecting employees and volunteers

• Guidelines for interactions between individuals

• Monitoring behavior

• Ensuring safe environments

• Responding to inappropriate behavior, allegations, and suspicions

• Training in sexual abuse prevention

Creating You Organizations Culture

Organizations that are meant to welcome children should strive doubly hard to create an environment that is hostile towards potential predators. Organizations should both clearly state, and regularly enact policies and procedures regarding inappropriate behavior.

To be effective and taken seriously, each participant within an organization must be held accountable for their acknowledgment of child protection policies. Here are examples of a zero-tolerance stance creates a simplified code of conduct:

• Identify each group that is to adhere to policies

• Clearly defined examples of inappropriate behavior

• Outline what supervision will be the standard

• Understanding of activity monitoring, such as internet usage or texting

• Clearly defined boundaries of privacy, such as locker rooms

• Employee or Volunteer Screening

Organizations can take responsibility for participants of all ages by providing proper training for employees and volunteers.

There are simple steps for awareness that help any adult authority figure recognize preemptive signs of inappropriate behavior. Make sure any organization clearly explains their policies and procedures for recognizing, responding and reporting inappropriate sexual behavior or suspicions of child abuse.

At Keep Kids Safe from Sex Abuse, we believe that all children should be safe from dangerous sexual predators. We also believe that this is best achieved through extensive education and by getting involved.

To learn more about our not for profit organization and how you can keep kids safe from sex abuse, call us at 408-915-5400 or 858-926-5800.