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.
North Dakota has changed its requirements for mandated reporting for teachers. As of last Friday, teachers now must have training only before initial licensing rather than every year. The standard training in that state appears to be relatively short and not particularly onerous. But short trainings, while better than nothing, rarely can do more than…
Today is Wrong Way Corrigan Day, and it has a lot of great lessons for those of us who work in youth-serving organizations. Douglas Corrigan, a 1930s pilot, became famous for flying from New York to Ireland instead of California, claiming it was a navigational error. The tale offers an interesting case study in dealing…
The Minnesota Supreme Court has held recently that Minnesota’s mandated reporting laws apply to disclosures about minors who are now adults. The particular facts involved a disclosure from a client to a therapist during an intake session. The client revealed that he had engaged in sexual contact with his children’s babysitter when she was 17…
The reports about a district attorney’s recent press conference in Massachusetts contain some important lessons for youth-serving organizations. The DA in Pittsfield, MA has charged two middle school educators with involuntary manslaughter and related crimes after the 2024 drowning death of a young teen during a school field trip. We are seeing more frequent criminal…
The reports about a district attorney’s recent press conference in Massachusetts contain some important lessons for youth-serving organizations. The DA in Pittsfield, MA has charged two middle school educators with involuntary manslaughter and related crimes after the 2024 drowning death of a young teen during a school field trip. We are seeing more frequent criminal…
We appear to have another illustration of the many reasons I strongly advise my clients against zero tolerance policies. A student has sued a school in Missouri after it suspended him for posting a picture of soda cans that he had glued together in the form of an AK-47. With all the usual caveats that…
A new study of the effects of cyberbullying is getting a lot of attention, but its results may not match the press reports. Researchers pulled data from a survey of almost 2700 teens between the age of 13 and 17. The survey asked the minors to respond to an 18-item scale measuring types and instances…
Indiana’s governor recently signed an amendment to the state’s mandated reporter law. It has two new provisions that youth organizations in the state need to note when it goes into effect on July 1, 2025. The first change is that it specifically restricts the ability report to a supervisor instead of child protective services or…
National Take a Chance Day — April 23, 2026 National Take a Chance Day, observed every April 23, celebrates stepping outside your comfort zone. Try something new. Take a leap. Embrace the unfamiliar. For most people, the invitation feels exciting, even liberating—a nudge toward the adventures and opportunities that caution has kept at arm’s length….
Every child protection professional shares the same nightmare: that a predator slipped through the system because no one recognized the warning signs. That fear is what drives legislation like Minnesota’s HF 3489, a bill currently moving through the state legislature that would make grooming a standalone felony. The bill is born from real pain—the testimony…