Transparency with Parents is Important in Crisis Response

One of the most difficult parts of dealing with claims of abuse in a youth organization is knowing what to tell parents of the kids your organization serves. Often, law enforcement encourages (or threatens) the organization to keep quiet while the investigation is continuing. In other cases, lawyers give what I think is the very bad advice to not tell antagonistic parents anything that might provide evidence in litigation.

That advice is understandable, but it ignores the fact that our organizations have an obligation to parents to be transparent. Talking to parents about how their kids were or may have been hurt on our watch is always difficult, but there is no way to avoid the task. Hiding behind lawyers or law enforcement investigations never makes the situation better.

Transparency doesn’t mean that we have to tell parents everything we know. Law enforcement does have a legitimate interest in keeping interviews and investigations under wraps until completion. Parents whose kids were not exposed to an accused staff member, for example, don‘t necessarily have a right to all of the details about the claims. In those cases, we have to politely tell them that we can’t comment and give them legitimate reasons.  

However, every parent has the right to know what the organization is doing to change its procedures or enforce compliance or whatever else is needed to keep kids safe. We need to be prepared to tell every parent what safety measures they can expect going forward. In that respect, our responsibilities to our parents outweigh our responsibilities to law enforcement or protecting the organization in litigation.

Talking to parents is a difficult and necessary part of crisis response. Be sure that you are listening to attorneys who are experienced in helping you balance your responsibilities to everyone that your organization serves.