Denver, CO, May 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading up to the start of summer youth programming, the U.S. Center for SafeSport (the Center) today released a Summer Safety Checklist outlining important questions parents and guardians can ask to help enhance their children’s safety and reduce the risk of abuse. The checklist is designed to reveal the measures youth-serving organizations have in place to prevent and respond to sexual abuse and misconduct.
“Champion respect. End abuse. That’s our focus every day at SafeSport,” Ju’Riese Colón, CEO, U.S. Center for SafeSport said. “Whether it’s sleepaway camp or a summer sports league, we want to arm parents and guardians with the right questions to help keep kids safe while they are having fun this summer.”
U.S. Center for SafeSport Summer Safety Checklist
Eight Questions to Ask Before Your Child Starts a Summer Program
Whether your child is attending summer camp or a sports league, the answers to these questions can help you evaluate a program’s preparedness to prevent and respond to abuse and misconduct. Answers to these questions may be found in policies posted online or by contacting a program administrator.
- What are the criteria for volunteer and staff screening and background checks?
- How are program participants supervised during structured activities and free time?
- What kind of abuse prevention and response training do volunteers and staff undergo?
- Do you have policies that limit unsupervised one-on-one contact between adults and minors?
- What are the established processes for reporting and responding to abuse and misconduct?
- How do you communicate expectations about how program participants treat one another?
- What are the sleeping arrangements for program participants and overnight staff or volunteers, and how are they monitored? (For overnight programs)
- Is an adult emergency contact available 24/7? (For overnight programs)
Monica Rivera, Vice President of Prevention Education, U.S. Center for SafeSport said, “It is important to have open and honest conversations with children about their bodily safety, and that starts with talking about setting boundaries for themselves and respecting others.’ We need to help kids understand that it is okay to say no when something makes them uncomfortable, even if it is to someone they admire and respect, and that no one should be asking them to keep secrets.”
In addition to the SafeSport Summer Safety Checklist, the Center offers numerous educational resources to prevent, recognize, and respond to abuse and misconduct in and around sport and other active settings.
The Center’s Parent’s Guide to Misconduct in Sport is designed for parents of athletes of all ages. This free online training course explains the issues of misconduct in sport and helps parents ensure their children have a positive and safe sport experience.
Click here to set up an account and access the training. Use the code: SAFESUMMER23
If you need assistance setting up the account, click here for instructions or click here to contact the help desk.
Need for Sexual Abuse Prevention in Sport
The U.S. Center for SafeSport is the nation’s only independent organization dedicated to ending sexual, physical, and emotional abuse in U.S. Olympic and Paralympic sport. The Center emerged in response to high profile cases of sexual abuse of minor athletes within Olympic and Paralympic sport in the mid-2010s. With the mission of making athlete wellbeing the centerpiece of the nation’s sport culture, the Center has since been setting safety policies, educating the sport community, and receiving, investigating, and resolving complaints of abuse and misconduct.
With the goal of ensuring athletes within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement are safe, supported, and strengthened, the Center:
- establishes safety policies, including the SafeSport Code and the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP);
- investigates and resolves allegations of abuse and misconduct in a neutral manner, and levies sanctions, including temporary and permanent bans from sport; and
- delivers comprehensive abuse prevention education within and outside of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement.
About the U.S. Center for SafeSport
The Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 codified the U.S. Center for SafeSport (the Center), a Denver, Colorado based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, as the nation’s safe sport organization. It gave the Center the scope and authority to resolve abuse and misconduct reports for more than 11 million individuals affiliated with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. It also charged the Center with developing policies, procedures, and training to prevent abuse and misconduct.
In October of 2020, the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020 became law, which strengthened the Center’s oversight functions and mandates a reliable annual funding stream from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
The Center opened its doors in March of 2017.
If you would like to request an interview about the SafeSport Summer Safety Checklist, please email media@safesport.org. As scheduling permits, interviews will be conducted from 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Mountain Time on Tuesday, May 3, 2023.
Click here to access a PDF of this news release.
Reporting Abuse
Report here to the U.S. Center for SafeSport if you have experienced abuse or misconduct—or if you have reasonable suspicion of abuse or misconduct inflicted on, or by, someone in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. You can also call 833-587-7233 to make a report.
If a situation does not involve sport or anyone within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement, you can contact RAINN's 24/7 online hotline or call 800-656-HOPE (4673).
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