CHILD/YOUTH SAFETY AND PROTECTION POLICY
Guiding Principles and Commitment Statement
We pledge to conduct the work and business of the organization in ways that promote the academic/athletic growth and development of our children/youth participants and their physical, emotional, and mental safety. This pledge also applies to all individuals who interact directly with them.
We, therefore, developed a comprehensive safety and protection policy along with its accompanying procedures/guidelines to:
- Better protect our children/youth against potential *perpetrators/abusers and incidents of misconduct or inappropriate behavior;
- Follow appropriate and reasonable safety measures when recruiting and selecting staff, affiliates, or volunteers;
- Have well-defined procedures for reporting suspected incidents of abuse or mistreatment consistent with Minnesota Laws and Statues;
- Require our staff/affiliates and volunteers who work with our children/youth to know, understand, and adhere to all our organizational policies and procedures; and
- Enforce a zero-tolerance policy for sexual, physical, or mental abuse of children/youth.
*Perpetrators/abusers intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly commit acts of physical, mental, or sexual abuse or neglect of children/youth or allow it to happen. Examples of perpetrators/abusers are parents/guardians, other family members, clergy, teachers, neighbors, strangers, etc.
