CPF Child Safety Protocol TABLE OF CONTENTS Preamble …………………………………………………………………………………………………….…....... A. Protocol: Recruiting, screening and training those who will work with minors ……………………… A.1 Recruiting Procedures (To be inserted) …………………………………………………………… A.2 Screening Procedures (To be inserted) ……………………………………………………………. A.3 Training Procedures (To be inserted) ……………………………………………………………… B. Protocol: Conducting activities with minors ……………………………………………………………… B.1 General Procedures (To be inserted) ………………………………………………………………. B.2 Overnight Activities Procedures (To be inserted) ………………………………………………… B.3 Billeting Procedures (To be inserted) ……………………………………………………………….. B.4 xxx Procedures (To be inserted) …………………………………………………………………….. B.5 xxx Procedures (To be inserted) …………………………………………………………………….. C. Protocol: Responding to allegations regarding physical, emotional or sexual abuse …………………… C.1 Procedures: Reporting ……………………………………………………………………………….. C.2 Procedures: Chapter Volunteers (To be inserted) ………………………………………………… C.3 Procedures: Branch Employees and Volunteers (To be inserted) ……………………………….. C.4 Procedures: National Employees and Volunteers (To be inserted) ……………………………… C.5 Reporting Abuse Diagram (To be inserted) …………………………………………. D. Final Thoughts ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. E. Glossary of Terms ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. F. Appendices (To be inserted) …………………………………………………………………….. PREAMBLE Canadian Parents for French (“CPF”) is a non-profit corporation and registered charity established in 1977 and governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. CPF’s mission statement reads, “Canadian Parents for French is the national network of volunteers which values French as an integral part of Canada and which is dedicated to the promotion and creation of French-second-language learning opportunities for young Canadians.” All CPF activities for minors must contribute to the completion of the mission. Youth-serving organizations like Canadian Parents for French strive to create a safe environment for youth, employees, and volunteers so that youth can grow, learn, and have fun. CPF staff and volunteers have a collective responsibility to ensure the safety of children and youth involved in CPF activities. Part of creating a safe environment is making sure that youth are not harmed in any way; this responsibility includes protecting children and youth involved with CPF from all forms of child abuse Child Emotional Abuse is defined as both emotional abuse and emotional neglect. This might include repeated attaches on a child’s sense of self-worth, insults, isolation, rejection, unrealistic expectations or constant criticism. It might also involve terrorizing a child, such as threatening to kill the family pet. The law also considers children at risk of emotional abusive if they live in situations of family violence. Child Physical Abuse is defined as the use of unreasonable force against a child. What is considered reasonable will depend on the age of the child, the severity of the actions and its lack of healthy corrective purpose regarding the child’s behavior. This might include, for example, hitting, slapping, shaking, choking, kicking or burning a child. It also includes any conduct by a caregiver that might put the child’s life, health or well-being at risk. Child Sexual Abuse is defined as any sexual act involving a child and an adult or another older child. This might include fondling, touching, intercourse or exploiting the child sexually, such as taking pornographic pictures or putting the child at risk of exploitation. This can also include non-physical forms of abuse such as exhibitionism, exposure to pornography and voyeurism. The goal of the CPF Child Safety Protocol is to ensure a positive experience for children, employees and volunteers alike, by establishing clear child safety policies and procedures and by providing appropriate training opportunities for employees, adult volunteers and teenage helpers who come into contact with minors. A. PROTOCOL: RECRUITING, SCREENING AND TRAINING THOSE WHO WILL WORK WITH MINORS CPF employees, adult volunteers and teenage workers who wish to participate in activities or programs for minors will be required to complete an Application to Work with Minors Form to provide the personal and confidential information necessary to perform security background checks and reference checks. While this process understandably trespasses into the privacy of our lives, the security of our children outweighs the personal invasion inherent with such investigations and disclosures. All personal information that is disclosed voluntarily, the results of all security background and reference checks, and/or the refusal of any person to participate in a program or activity in lieu of such disclosure requirements will be maintained in the strictest confidence. All written and verbal advertisements for opportunities to work with minors must include information about CPF’s screening and supervisory processes. This is intended to deter potential abusers from applying for staff or volunteer positions in order to gain access to vulnerable minors. All prospective employees and adult volunteers will be required to complete an Application to Work with Minors and to complete the entire screening process, even those who only volunteer occasionally. Youth under eighteen (18) wanting to serve as teenage workers in any capacity with activities, studies or programs for minors must complete a Teenage Volunteer Information Form and review the training materials B. PROTOCOL: CONDUCTING CPF ACTIVITIES WITH MINORS 2 All activities involving minors must be assessed, conducted and supervised in accordance with CPF’s riskbased procedures. All employees, adult volunteers and teenage workers who conduct the activity must have completed the appropriate screening and training, signed the CPF Code of Conduct, and follow CPF’s Child Safety Protocol at all times. C. PROTOCOL: RESPONDING TO REPORTS OR ALLEGATIONS REGARDING THE PYSICAL, EMOTIONAL OR SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS Any CPF employee or adult volunteer who has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child, youth or vulnerable adult is, or may be in need of protection must report the suspicion to a protective agency or police authority. Any person who has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is or may be in need of protection from abuse has a duty to report the suspicion directly to a child-protection agency or police authority. The person should not rely on another to make the report on his/her behalf. Any CPF employee or adult volunteer who hears an allegation of abuse must also confide this to the designated person at the CPF level at which the activity took place in accordance with the CPF Child Safety Protocol. D. FINAL THOUGHTS Child abuse is not and will not be tolerated by CPF. As an organization serving young people in Canada, CPF employees and adult volunteers have a collective responsibility to ensure the safety of children and youth participating in CPF activities. Employees and volunteers must also be alert to signs of neglect or abuse occurring to participants outside of CPF-hosted outings. If there is suspicion that abuse or neglect is occurring elsewhere it must be reported to the appropriate authorities. In cases of uncertainty, one must be prudent and contact the local childprotection authorities to discuss the situation. In all cases, CPF should be informed. Volunteers at the Chapter level should contact their board or their branch executive. Volunteers at the branch level should contact their board executive who in turn contacts and informs CPF National. All adult volunteers and employees involved in CPF activities must be aware of and adhere to provincial legislation. CPF will ensure that adult volunteers and employees are aware of local authorities and how to contact them. E. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ‘Adult volunteer’ shall be defined as any person aged eighteen (18) or over who does not receive remuneration for their work. ‘Child/Children’ shall be defined as individual(s) under the age of eighteen (18) ‘Child Abuse’ shall be defined as verbal, physical, emotional or sexual abuse of a minor ‘Child Emotional abuse’ shall be defined as both emotional abuse and emotional neglect. This might include repeated attacks on a child's sense of self-worth, insults, isolation, rejection, unrealistic expectations or 3 constant criticism. It might also involve terrorizing a child such as threatening to kill the family pet. The law also considers children at risk of emotional abuse if they live in situations of family violence. ‘Child Physical Abuse” shall be defined as the use of unreasonable force against a child. What is considered reasonable will depend on the age of the child, the severity of the actions and its lack of healthy corrective purpose regarding the child’s behaviour. This might include, for example, hitting, slapping, shaking, choking, kicking or burning a child. It also includes any conduct by a caregiver that might put the child's life, health or well-being at risk. ‘Child Sexual Abuse’ shall be defined as any sexual act involving a child and an adult or another older child. This might include fondling, touching, intercourse or exploiting the child sexually such as taking pornographic pictures or putting the child at risk of exploitation. This can also include non-physical forms of abuse such as exhibitionism, exposure to pornography and voyeurism. ‘Employer’ shall mean Canadian Parents for French (“CPF”) National Office, Branches, and Chapters or any successor thereof. ‘Employee’ shall include full time, part time, volunteer or contract personnel. ‘Minor’ shall be defined as any individual under the age of eighteen (18) ‘Teenage Worker’ shall be defined as any person at least fourteen (14) years old or older, but under the age of eighteen (18) enlisted to assist with the care of minors ‘Vulnerable Sector Check’ is a police record check designed to protect uncover the existence of a criminal record and/or a pardoned sexual offence conviction. F. APPENDICES (To be revised and inserted) – PHASE 2 Implementation Scheduled for April 2015 to March 2016. 4
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