Youth-serving organizations take on a serious responsibility when they open their doors to children and other vulnerable people. Fulfilling that responsibility well requires two things working together: a safety culture strong enough to prevent harm, and independent investigations credible enough to find the truth when someone alleges mistreatment.
Youth Services Law covers both. Posts examine the legal landscape, practical decisions, and organizational choices that shape how schools, camps, churches, colleges, faith-based groups, and community organizations protect the people in their care and respond when something goes wrong. The goal is the same in every post: precise, useful guidance for child protection and investigations.
One challenge that my clients are having to deal with more often is childhood allergies, which are increasing for reasons that no one quite understands. Allergic reactions can be frightening and, in fortunately rare circumstances, lead to death. Given those stakes, youth organizations need to develop plans for dealing with allergies in their settings. Prevention…
I have received several questions recently about settling claims involving minors. Every case and state law is different, but there are some general principles. Since I know Georgia law best, I will use it to illustrate the issues. Unlike settling a claim for an adult, most states place quite a bit of oversight on parents…
One story all over the news lately is the New York foster parent accused of using the system to force young women into prostitution. From news reports, it’s hard to know exactly how the foster care system missed the signs here, but there are some lessons that youth-serving organizations can learn about screening. Sharice Mitchell,…
Whenever you have time to review your organization’s policies, put your child protection policies at the top off your list. We have created a self-assessment checklist that you can download below or ask us about via email. Some of the components that people sometimes overlook include: Vounteers — It’s easy to overlook the fact that…
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania last week overturned the suspension of a student who posted violent song lyrics on his Snapchat account. The student was not on campus at the time, and he posted the lyrics from Snap! by the death metal band Spite. He did not identify the post as being from a song and…
The beginning of a new year is a traditional time to think about starting new projects. For youth organizations, it is a good time to take a close look at your policies and records to determine which ones to keep going forward. Not only will the process make your program more efficient, but (for reasons…
A TikTok video out of the Philippines has bureaucrats pontificating about potential child abuse. In the video, a teacher who appears to be in his early 20s shows off his dance moves with the caption, “When your cute student passes by, impress her.” The social media outrage response kicked in, and the Philippines Department of…
The problems in Texas foster care persist, as does the federal court case involving children without places to go. The parties now have agreed to a panel of three experts, who are supposed to learn everything about this complex problem and provide recommendations in less than two months. The State of Texas already has…
This post is part of a continuing series about responding to claims of abuse within a youth-serving organization. The first two posts discussed assembling your team and general principles for the team to follow. This post discusses first steps in an internal investigation. In many ways, the first 48 hours after you hear of a…
In my last post, I discussed the team that you need to put together to help respond to claims of abuse within a youth organization. Now, let’s discuss general principles that the team needs to follow. Develop a Plan, and Don’t Delay Abuse allegations are serious and need to be addressed right away. Don’t accept…