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 of the side effects of awareness of child abuse is an uptick in claims within youth organizations. We have had numerous clients contact us with reports that they are facing such claims. Sometimes, the allegation comes as part of a new lawsuit, in which case the lawyers and court system handle the allegation. Many…
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, so we will hear a lot of ideas about how to prevent school–based bullying. Unfortunately, evidence about those ideas is hard to find. The Department of Justice evaluated 13 programs and found only 3 of them to be proven effective. Of the remaining, 7 are promising, but still lack…
The University of Iowa and numerous employees are liable to a religious student organization for discrimination in violation of the First Amendment guarantees of free speech and freedom of association. A Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of a trial court to hold the University of Iowa and several of its officials liable for violating…
The Department of Justice has issued a scathing report about the FBI’s failures to investigate reports of sexual assault by Larry Nassar. Although the report focuses on violations of FBI policies, it has some important lessons for youth serving organizations, specifically the importance of documenting events and seeking outside expertise. I do want to resist…
Anti-bullying programs get a lot of attention these days, because everyone wants to spare children the trauma of true bullying. Yet in spite of our best efforts, the problem is not getting better, and some experts worry that we are creating new problems for our kids. One problem is that, contrary to what many parents…
One common question that I get is which parents have authority over the children in a program. As with all legal questions, it depends. In Georgia, for example, biological parents are considered the proper guardians of the child. If the parents are still married, then either parent may sign your contract and check a child…
The Americans with Disabilities Act and Sec. 504 prohibit discrimination against a child with a physical or mental impairment that “limits one or more major life activities.” In general, a facility must make “reasonable modifications” to its programs to accommodate a child’s disability. There are three important exceptions, namely that a program (1) can exclude…
One thing that struck me about the recent college admissions scandal is the way that the parents abused disability laws to get more time for standardized tests or a specific test center for their children. Most mental health professionals are people of integrity, but many mental health diagnoses depend entirely on subjective criteria. It is…
One vexing area for youth organizations is how to accommodate children with disabilities. It can be a complicated question, such as when a child’s disability harms other children or simply cannot be accommodated without completely changing your program. Even programs with the best intentions must balance and care for the needs of all of the…
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among teenagers, and depression and anxiety in that age group have skyrocketed. Any group that works with older children and teenagers is likely to encounter a client who expresses suicidal thoughts. The good news is that there are many resources that will help you respond. Level…