Culture of Safety: Boys & Girls Clubs of Story 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 including:
- Child Sexual Abuse Prevention training
- Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting
- Mental Health First Aid, CPR, 1st Aid and Bloodborne Pathogens training
- ALICE training
- Internet safety
Safety Policies: Boys & Girls Clubs of Story 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 Clubs of Story County members and staff have access to a confidential 24-hour toll-free Child Safety Hotline, 866-607-SAFE (7233) or email SafeClub@Praesidiuminc.com.
Mandatory Background Checks: Mandatory criminal background checks are required every year for every staff and board member at Boys & Girls Clubs of Story County. In addition, criminal background checks are required for any volunteer who has direct contact with children. All potential employees and volunteers are also run through the National Sex Offender Registry.
Mandatory Employee & Volunteer References: 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. All staff and volunteers are reference checked by multiple sources prior to being their service.
Required Immediate Reporting: Boys & Girls Clubs of Story 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 Clubs.
Safety Committee: Boys & Girls Clubs of Story County has a dedicated safety committee to provide input and guidance on local policies and safety strategies. Priorities and initiatives include:
- Ongoing safety policy review and development
- Annual safety assessment
- Crisis and incident response review and development
State and Local Laws: We comply with federal, state and local safety laws, including those impacting facilities and vehicles.