At Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Club of Tippecanoe County, Child Safety is Job No. 1

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.

Culture of Safety: The Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Clubs of Tippecanoe County continually updates robust safety policies, programs and training for our staff and volunteers that are designed to promote child safety and protect young people from threats that are present in our society. We continually enhance and implement layers of safety policies and guidelines to keep our kids safe including:

• Staff members work to establish an ongoing dialogue with all parents and keep lines of communication open.
• Tracking all members and visitors when they arrive and leave our sites.
• Staff members are expected to dress in Club attire, so they are easily identified in each program area.

Safety Policies: Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Clubs of Tippecanoe County has comprehensive safety policies in place that protect youth - including, but not limited to, supervision, transportation, communication and prohibiting private one-on-one contact.

24-hour Toll-free Child Safety Hotline: 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, Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Clubs of Tippecanoe County members and staff have access to a confidential 24-hour toll-free Child Safety Hotline, 866-607-SAFE (7233) or email [email protected].

Mandatory Background Checks: Mandatory criminal background checks are required upon hire and annually for every staff and board member at Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Clubs of Tippecanoe County. In addition, criminal background checks are required for any volunteer who has direct contact with children. All potential employees and volunteers are also run through Sterling and Veritrace.

Required Immediate Reporting: Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Clubs of Tippecanoe County staff and volunteers are all mandated reporters. We 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 complete a safety assessment each year to ensure we continually make improvements to safety at our Clubs.

Safety Trainings: Ongoing training and supervision of staff is critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety training conducted such as:

Daily safety checks from staff, the annual Safety Assessment, monthly safety meetings and regular updates through BGCA, as well as Health and Safety Trainings through the Indiana Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning.

We also engage leading third-party safety reports to provide guidance for our policies and approaches, including Praesidium, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and the National Children's Advocacy Center.

Safety Committee: Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Clubs of Tippecanoe County have a dedicated safety committee to provide input and guidance on local policies and safety strategies. Priorities and initiatives include:

• Monthly Board of Director Safety Committee meetings.
• Tippecanoe County Health inspections annually.
• Follow up meeting to update and make sure all recommendations and findings are being adhered to.

Mandatory Employee Reference: Any employee interested in moving to another Boys & Girls Club is required to have a reference from the 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:

• National Child Safety Advisory Task Force, made up leading experts and organizations
• Blue Ribbon Taskforce, comprised of local Club leaders charged with providing input on the safety direction and key safety initiatives
• Mental Health First Aid, a national program that teaches skills to recognize and respond to signs of mental illness and substance abuse
• Crisis Text Line, confidential text message service for youth in times of crisis

Locally, Lyn Treece Boys & Girls Clubs of Tippecanoe County partners with:

Continued Commitment: In July, 2020, all local Boys & Girls Clubs voted to adopt additional safety measures to further improve safety within our Clubs. Many of these practices were already in place, however, Boys & Girls Clubs determined these practices should be mandatory for all Clubs. These measures include more stringent reference and background checks, enhanced Club Safety Committee requirements for all Clubs, greater communication of key safety resources and information available for staff and members, and more.