
Boys & Girls Club
Of Brazoria County Safety
Headline
Title:
At Boys & Girls Club of Brazoria County, Child Safety is Job No. 1
Subtitle: Ensuring child safety
is fundamental to the mission of Boys & Girls Club of Brazoria County
The Safety and Wellbeing
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 put resources behind
that stance.
Culture of Safety: Boys & Girls Club of Brazoria 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 implement layers of safety policies and guidelines to keep our kids
safe.
Safety Policies: Boys & Girls Club of Brazoria 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, Boys & Girls Club
of Brazoria 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 every year for every staff and board member at Boys & Girls Club
of Brazoria County. In addition,
criminal background checks are required for any volunteer who has direct
contact with children.
Required Immediate Reporting: Boys & Girls Club of Brazoria 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 Club(s).
Safety Trainings: Ongoing training and supervision of staff is
critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety training conducted
such as CPR and First Aid, Active Shooter, Recognizing Child Abuse as mandated
reporters, and Bullying training, to name a few.. We also engage leading
third-party safety experts 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: Boys & Girls Club of Brazoria County has a dedicated safety committee to provide
input and guidance on local policies and safety strategies. Priorities and
initiatives include:
- Meet monthly to implement
safety moments at all staff meetings
- Conducts monthly drills and
holds safety roundtables to ensure all Clubs are meeting safety standards
set forth by BGCA’s safety requirements, as well as local and state laws
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 of 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, a
confidential text message service for youth in times of crisis
Locally, Boys & Girls Club
of Brazoria County partners with:
- National Child Safety Advisory
Task Force, made up of 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, a
confidential text message service for youth in times of crisis
Nationally, 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 Boys
& Girls Club of Brazoria County. To learn more about our national safety policies and
actions, please visit Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Child Safety page, here.