Five Days of Action | West Suburban YMCA

Help the Y Prevent Child Abuse

Jack Fucci

Apr 01, 2018

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and our YMCA is joining with YMCAs all across the country to take action and raise awareness about how to prevent child sexual abuse.

We want you to join us. We know you share the Y’s commitment to youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. You can share our commitment to protecting kids in our community too, by learning more about how to prevent child sexual abuse and helping us get the word out to others. 

At the Y, the safety and protection of children and teens in our care is our top priority.  Here are just a few of the steps our YMCA takes to protect kids:

  • Detailed employment application forms for staff and volunteers.
  • Comprehensive reference checks on staff and volunteers that include standardized questions that assess risk for abuse.  These checks include professional and family references.
  • Statewide Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check & Sexual Offender Registry Information (SORI) check, as well as a national and global check through a third party vendor.
  • All staff completes an extensive Child Abuse Prevention Training Program.
  • Supervisors complete additional training to further promote a child safe environment.
  • Staff and volunteers are mandated to report any suspected child abuse or neglect.
  • Staff are prohibited from working 1-on-1 with or contacting youth outside of the Y (including babysitting and social networking).
  • Policies exist to ensure staff & volunteers are not alone with a child. All interaction between a staff and child must be observable and interruptible.
  • Employees who are trained in abuse prevention are more likely to understand their role, to recognize the signs that abuse is occurring and to report suspicious or inappropriate behaviors. Trained staff members are also less likely to place themselves in situations where they could be falsely accused.
  • We strictly enforce our rules because it is very rare you would catch someone abusing, but you will catch abusers breaking rules that lead to abuse.

If you have questions about our child protection policies and practices, please contact Trevor Williams, Vice President of Operations at 617-244-6050 Ext. 3021 or trevorw@wsymca.org

If you’d like to learn more about Child Abuse Prevention, visit these experts in the field:

Thank you for joining us in raising awareness to keep kids safe this April…and all year long!

Sincerely,

Jack Fucci

President & CEO

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