The Most Common Mistake in Child Protection Policies

As we work with youth organizations to draft good child protection policies, we see three very common misconceptions. Youth-serving organizations genuinely care about protecting children, but they often unwittingly leave opportunities for maltreatment. The most common mistake we see is simply adopting someone else’s policy. Our advise is to adapt, not adopt, other policies.

“We Copied A Great Policy”

Because YSO administrators have so many things to do, it is really tempting to just copy a child protection policy from another organization. There also are many good comprehensive programs that you can buy. The problem with this approach is that there is no one-size-fits-all policy. No matter how outstanding the policy is, if you merely adopt it without thinking through the underlying principles and how they apply to your organization’s resources, the policy simply will not do all that it needs to do. There are too many variations among YSOs. A policy that works well for an overnight camp likely will not work as well for a mentoring organization or group home. Some protocols, such as screening, might work while others, such as supervision ratios, will not. Similarly, interaction rules for a group home serving teenagers will be completely different from those for a childcare center. The differences between state laws and regulations adds another layer of difficulty.

Another problem with copying another policy wholesale is that, if it doesn’t fit well, you won’t implement it consistently. It may be too ambitious for your resources or simply will not work for your staffing arrangements. A policy that you don’t follow is, in the world of risk management, worse than no policy at all. If disaster strikes, the media and attorneys will hold you to the standards that you set for yourself. Every aspect of the policy that you could not implement will become a way to hold your YSO liable for the tragedy.

Furthermore, your YSO may face different areas of risk than others. A childcare center, for example, needs to watch for children biting each other, not online bullying. Similarly, a “no touch” policy can cause emotional harm to younger children, but can be reassuring to teenagers. Sexual abuse is always a high-impact risk, but careless accidents are more common. You will have to do your own individual cost-benefit analysis of various policies and determine the greatest risks that your YSO faces. Those high-risk areas are where you need to allocate your resources.

For all of these reasons, we don’t recommend wholesale adoption of someone else’s policy.  We believe that it is far better for you to learn the principles of a good child protection policy and then apply those principles to your particular YSO. The process will take more time, but it will give you a policy that you actually can implement and enforce consistently.