We know that today:
When we all take action, abuse is preventable.
Our Commitment to Child Protections
As a youth-serving organization that reaches 6.4 million children and teens every year, the Y’s most important work is creating safe environments for young people. That any child or teen would experience harm in our care is unacceptable. Ensuring the safety and well-being of young people is foundational to everything we do at the Y to help them learn, grow and thrive.
How We Create Safe Spaces for Children and Teens
As an organization, we have taken the following actions to keep kids safe in our Y facilities, camps and programs and maintain the reputation of safety we have built during our 175-year history.
The Y is required to implement child sexual abuse prevention practices and policies to remain a member in good standing with the National Council of YMCAs. These requirements include:
We partner with passionate local Y leaders who facilitate peer-to-peer learning and continuously improve and strengthen Y abuse-prevention efforts
We work closely with strategic partners to advance federal policies that seek to protect children from various forms of abuse and neglect.
Your Safety Matters
At the Telford Community Center YMCA, the safety and well-being of every child, member, participant, volunteer, and staff member is our highest priority. As a Praesidium Accredited organization, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards in abuse prevention, education, and risk management.
If you have a concern regarding child safety, inappropriate conduct, policy violations, or any situation that may impact the safety of our YMCA community, we encourage you to speak up.
The Confidential Reporting Survey provides a secure way to share concerns, observations, or incidents that may require review. Reports may be submitted anonymously, and all submissions are taken seriously and reviewed by YMCA leadership.
By working together, we can continue to create a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment for everyone.
Click the button below to access the Confidential Reporting Survey.
- 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys in the U.S. experience sexual abuse by the age of 18.1
- 90 percent of children who are abused know the abuser
- There are more than 42 million survivors of child sexual abuse in the U.S. Yet, many child victims may never disclose their abuse.
- 1 in 5 children is solicited sexually on the Internet before the age of 18.4
When we all take action, abuse is preventable.
Our Commitment to Child Protections
As a youth-serving organization that reaches 6.4 million children and teens every year, the Y’s most important work is creating safe environments for young people. That any child or teen would experience harm in our care is unacceptable. Ensuring the safety and well-being of young people is foundational to everything we do at the Y to help them learn, grow and thrive.
How We Create Safe Spaces for Children and Teens
As an organization, we have taken the following actions to keep kids safe in our Y facilities, camps and programs and maintain the reputation of safety we have built during our 175-year history.
The Y is required to implement child sexual abuse prevention practices and policies to remain a member in good standing with the National Council of YMCAs. These requirements include:
- Completing a comprehensive accreditation process specifically aimed at abuse prevention and maintain re-accreditation on a three-year basis.
- Having a policy that requires criminal background checks for staff and volunteers
- Providing and requiring annual training for staff and high-access volunteers on preventing and responding to youth-to-youth sexual activity and adult-to-child sexual activity or abuse
- In addition to requiring all staff and volunteers to report child abuse in accordance with applicable laws, all allegations of sexual abuse or victimization of minors (under 18) involving Y staff, volunteers, members or participants must be reported to the appropriate authorities
- Having a policy that requires screening all adults against a national sex offender registry and written protocol for how to respond when adults are identified as registered sex offenders
- Implementing policies that define boundaries with youth
- Implementing procedures for identifying and managing high-risk activities
- Assigning youth protection to a leadership staff member’s responsibility and a committee’s chart of work
- Reporting the following events to Y-USA:
- Allegations and/or criminal charges of child abuse, child sexual exploitation, or child sexual misconduct involving a current or former YMCA staff, volunteer, or member (including incidents related to the YMCA and outside of the YMCA)
- Allegations of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or sexual misconduct between youth participants in attendance at a YMCA and/or enrolled in YMCA activities.
We partner with passionate local Y leaders who facilitate peer-to-peer learning and continuously improve and strengthen Y abuse-prevention efforts
We work closely with strategic partners to advance federal policies that seek to protect children from various forms of abuse and neglect.
Your Safety Matters
At the Telford Community Center YMCA, the safety and well-being of every child, member, participant, volunteer, and staff member is our highest priority. As a Praesidium Accredited organization, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards in abuse prevention, education, and risk management.
If you have a concern regarding child safety, inappropriate conduct, policy violations, or any situation that may impact the safety of our YMCA community, we encourage you to speak up.
The Confidential Reporting Survey provides a secure way to share concerns, observations, or incidents that may require review. Reports may be submitted anonymously, and all submissions are taken seriously and reviewed by YMCA leadership.
By working together, we can continue to create a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment for everyone.
Click the button below to access the Confidential Reporting Survey.