The Safety and Well-being of Young People is Our Number One Priority: We work every day to create a safe, fun environment so kids can have every opportunity to be successful in life. We have ZERO tolerance for inappropriate behavior of any kind, including child sexual abuse or misconduct, and we provide significant resources to ensure this priority is achieved. We continually update our 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
Mandatory Background Checks: Boys & Girls Clubs of North County conducts criminal background checks every 12 months of all employees, as well as all volunteers who have direct, repetitive contact with children. All potential employees and volunteers are also screened through First Advantage, verifying social security numbers, criminal records and searching the sexual offender database. Their fingerprints are also processed through Livescan and the Department of Justice.
Annual Safety Assessments: Boys & Girls Clubs of North County conducts a safety assessment each year to ensure we continually make improvements to safety at our Clubs.
Required Immediate Reporting: Boys & Girls Clubs of North 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.
Safety Trainings: Ongoing training and supervision of staff is critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety trainings each year. We also engage leading third-party safety experts to provide guidance for our policies and procedures.
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 of leading experts and organizations
- Blue Ribbon Task Force 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, a confidential text message service for youth in times of crisis.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America has advocated the passage of the U.S. PROTECT Act, which improved 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 contribute to 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 the Boys & Girls Clubs of North County. To learn more about our national safety policies and actions, please visit Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Child Safety page, here.