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.
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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...
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As I discussed in my last post, courts generally allow depositions of children who may have relevant information. That right is not boundless, however, and courts have the right to set conditions to reduce the stress and trauma to the child. Courts that have allowed depositions have either set the conditions themselves or required the…
One dilemma that lawyers confront is when and how to depose children. Sometimes, those children are the professed victims in litigation; other times they are fact witnesses. Quite often lawyers for the child’s family will resist a deposition, citing the potential for psychological trauma. Most courts that have considered the question have found a right…
USA Swimming is caught up on the same allegations that roiled USA Gymnastics. An explosive newspaper report and lawsuit allege that USA Swimming covered for pedophile coaches. The group blamed the problems on the prior administration, but like clockwork, the lawsuit recently added USA Swimming as a defendant. According to the lawyers’ press release about…
The most recent APSAC Advisor has an excellent article about an important issue — the myth that mandated reporters are immune from liability for reporting their suspicions of child abuse. Every training I have ever attended has reassured mandated reporters that they will face no repercussions from making a report. That information is flat-out wrong…
Many of my smaller clients have asked about hiring short-term and part-time staff as independent contractors rather than employees. My law partner, Glianny Fagundo, outlines some of the risks of that practice: Hiring staff members as independent contractors can create a legal risk for your operation. “Contractors” is a category reserved for specialists in an…
As your program starts planning for the new school year, here are some topics that you need to consider including. Some are more important than others — mandated reporting for example, may fulfill a legal requirement in your state, while dealing with media inquiries may be a remote possibility. As always, your training program should…
This story from Los Angeles illustrates that even the best child protection policies do not work if staff and supervisors do not follow through. In this analysis, I’m relying on the reporter’s facts, most of which come from later police reports and depositions in a civil suit against the LA school system. According to the…
The first of the year, after the end of the holiday rush and before spring holidays kick in, is a natural time to regroup and plan ahead. It is a good time to be sure that your organization has good policies, particularly employee handbooks and child protection policies. It’s also an important time to be…
The next, and for many lawyers the most frightening, issue in deposing children is how to ask questions of children. Like many tasks, it is more frightening than difficult. Fortunately, many other people have faced this same problem, and many of them have written some very instructive manuals. Guidelines and Protocols My first recommendation always…
One popular, and many believe essential, component of child protection policies is a prevention program geared toward children. In these programs, adults explain to children how to recognize abuse and encourage them to disclose it. The field started decades ago with the well-known “Good Touch, Bad Touch” training, and today is crowded with all sorts…