8 questions parents should ask before their children join teams, groups or organizations

The allegations of child sexual abuse at Rockstar Cheer and Dance are shocking, though as yet unproven, but experts say they are not unique.

The Greenville News spoke with Dr. Benjamin Saunders, professor emeritus of the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina, about how parents can protect their children who participate in sports teams, youth groups and in other activities.

Saunders developed eight questions parents can ask that will help them understand an organization’s commitment to youth safety. The questions target red flags, particularly for sexual abuse, and should illuminate any major deficiencies in an organization’s policies and enforcement.

There is, however, no “one size fits all” among youth-protection policies, according to Saunders. Youth-serving organizations are diverse, and different activities present different risks.

Sunday school, typically where children in groups interact with an adult once a week, is a lower-risk situation than overnight trips led by a youth minister. Youth-protection policies like background checks, training and restrictions around personal contact can and do vary accordingly.

The key for parents interested in protecting their children is to gather information about an organization’s policies and use that information to judge what is best for their child, Saunders said.

“The organization you want to avoid is the organization that condemns you for asking these questions,” Saunders said. “If you’ve got an organization where that happens, my advice is (to) leave that organization, because that is an organization that is not going to be enforcing and managing (youth-protection policies) in a way that’s going to keep your child safe.”

Does the organization have a youth-protection policy?

Parents should be able to obtain and review a copy of the organization’s policy. If none is available, parents can ask if the organization has any other written policies or procedures designed to promote youth safety.

An organization that lacks a policy altogether is “a huge red flag,” according to Saunders.

“If you’re in the youth-serving business, you’re in the youth-protection business,” he said.

A robust youth-protection policy should cover verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Organizations should also conduct a self-analysis, assessing their positions for those that are high risk and moderating their policies accordingly.

A high-risk situation, Saunders said, is “any time an adult is going to be in contact with a child for an extended period of time under minimal or no supervision.”

He provided the example of sports coaches, who often have extensive contact with children, little supervision by other adults and power over children who want to play.

“We want more stringent measures in place (for high-risk positions) than for the ones that are low-risk,” Saunders said.

Does the organization conduct thorough background checks on employees and volunteers?

Organizations should conduct background checks on staff and volunteers according to the level of risk posed by the position, Saunders said.

Candidates for the highest-risk roles should be subject to both federal and state criminal background checks before they have contact with children. Federal checks, though more expensive for organizations to conduct, identify individuals who have broken the law regardless of their state of residence — potentially meaningful when staff and volunteers travel frequently.

Saunders also urged organizations to screen candidates for a high-risk position against federal and state sex offender registries, which do not always overlap, and to conduct background checks on a semi-regular basis for employees who serve over a long period of time. Every five years is appropriate for most organizations, Saunders said.

Does the organization require employees to complete a written application form acknowledging their duty to follow all youth-protection policies, procedures and guidelines?

This accountability measure protects both children and the organization, said Saunders, ensuring that employees are aware of relevant policies and that the organization can easily hold them accountable for violations.

“There’s no reason for an organization to not do” this, Saunders said.

Does the organization provide training in youth protection for staff, volunteers and, if appropriate, participating families?

“This is absolutely critical,” Saunders said. Most organizations, he said, have a youth-protection policy. “The question is whether they’re training people on it and (whether) they enforce it.”

Like background checks, training requirements should be stricter for employees in high-risk positions. Parents should be able to review the training and may also ask whether ongoing training is required.

In some cases, participating children and families should also go through training in an organization’s youth-protection policies — especially older children who work with staff and volunteers intensively.

Does the organization restrict personal contact between children and staff or volunteers outside the activities of the organization?

Robust youth-protection policies should address personal contact between children and staff or volunteers that occurs outside the activities of the organization, Saunders said. It would be appropriate for a coach to take a team of children out for ice cream, for example, but not for the coach to take just one child for a special treat. Similarly, an organization should limit one-on-one contact between children and staff and require that contact be appropriate to the activities of the organizations.

“The policy here is not that you can’t talk to these kids outside the context of the organization, but the organization needs to be aware of clearly undue contact that should not be happening,” Saunders said.

Contact with children that the child’s parent is not fully aware of, or contact over technology or the internet without parental involvement, can be signs of grooming, Saunders said.

Grooming in this context is a process in which offenders form a special relationship with a child and their family that they eventually leverage to abuse the child.

Does the organization maintain a “two-deep” policy?

A “two-deep” policy requires that no single child can be alone with a single adult. In other words, a single child should be accompanied by at least two adults or a single adult should be in the presence of at least two children at any given time.

The policy is intended to reduce the opportunities for an offender to isolate and develop a special relationship with a child.

Does the organization have a clear procedure in place for managing reports and complaints?

Is staff required to report concerning behavior? How do they investigate and substantiate complaints? Does staff understand when they are required by law to report complaints to law enforcement or social services?

Again, as with most policies, practices vary according to the organization and its activities. Saunders said parents should assess whether an organization has thought about how to handle complaints and is willing to bring in the authorities if necessary.

Has the organization ever received a complaint?

It is not necessarily a red flag, Saunders said, for organizations to disclose having received a complaint.

“Many of these organizations deal with thousands of children and hundreds of volunteers,” Saunders said. “(Even) if you do everything correctly, you’re very likely going to encounter situations of abuse just because that’s the way the world works.”

Of interest to parents is how the organization responded to that complaint. Did they take the complaint seriously and investigate, or did they dismiss the complainant’s concerns? Have they ever dismissed an employee for violating the youth-protection policies, procedures or guidelines?

If they have, Saunders said, that could even be a “green flag” — it speaks to whether the organization takes their policies seriously and responds appropriately to reported violations.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Questions parents should ask before children join teams, youth groups