At Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont, Child Safety is Job No. 1
Ensuring child safety is fundamental to the mission of Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont.
The Safety and Wellbeing of Young People is Our Number One Priority. We work every day to create a safe, inclusive, and fun environment so kids can have every opportunity to be successful in life. We have no tolerance for inappropriate behavior of any kind, including child sexual abuse or misconduct, and we put resources behind that stance.
Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont continually updates robust safety policies, programs and training for staff and volunteers to promote child safety and protect young people from threats in our society. These resources and trainings include but are not limited to:
Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont maintains comprehensive safety policies that protect youth, including but not limited to policies on supervision, transportation, communication, and prohibition of one-on-one contact.
We encourage all staff, members and families to report any incident or situation they feel is unsafe. Through our national partnership with Praesidium, one of the nation’s leading safety experts, Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont members and staff have access to a confidential 24-hour toll-free Child Safety Hotline at 866-607-SAFE (7233) or SafeClub@Praesidiuminc.com.
Mandatory Background Checks
Mandatory criminal background checks are required upon hire and annually for every staff and board member at Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont. In addition, criminal background checks are required for any volunteer who has direct, repetitive contact with children. All potential employees and volunteers are run through the National Sex Offender Registry.
Required immediate reporting
Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont staff and volunteers are all mandated reporters and are required to report any critical incident/safety concern to local authorities immediately. We are also required to report any critical incident to Boys & Girls Clubs of America within 24 hours.
Mandatory Annual Safety Assessments
We employ a multi-tiered safety assessment approach to ensure we continually make improvements to safety at our Clubs.
SAFETY TRAININGS
Ongoing training and supervision of staff are critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety training through online courses, seminars, conferences and webinars. We also engage leading third-party safety experts to provide guidance for our policies and approaches, including Praesidium, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the National Children’s Advocacy Center.
Any employee interested in moving to another Boys & Girls Club is required to have a reference from their previous Club, even if the Clubs are within the same community.
state and local laws
We comply with federal, state and local safety laws, including those impacting facilities and vehicles.
safety partnerships
Nationally, Boys & Girls Clubs of America works with leading experts in the areas of safety, security and technology to develop state-of-the-art solutions for Clubs. Partners include:
continued commitment
Nationally, Boys & Girls Clubs of America has advocated for passage of the U.S. PROTECT Act to improve background screening systems and access. The national organization has also partnered with the FBI, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the Centers for Disease Control to support the development of safety practices that benefit ALL youth-serving organizations.America’s young people deserve nothing less than our constant focus on their safety and our firm commitment to protect every child who is entrusted to our care at Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont. To learn more about our national safety policies and actions, please visit Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Child Safety page.
