About This Blog
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.
About the Author
Featured Post
September 8, 2026
Every plaintiff's attorney in a youth sexual abuse case asks the same question: did the organization follow accepted safety practices? Many organizations assume the answer required two adults present at every activity. That assumption does not hold up under scrutiny. No universal legal standard...
Read the full post ›
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…
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…