At Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River, Child Safety is Job No. 1

Ensuring child safety is fundamental to the mission of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River

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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 no tolerance for inappropriate behavior of any kind, including child sexual abuse or misconduct, and we put resources behind that stance.

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Culture of Safety: Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River 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. These resources include but are not limited to:

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• Delivery of high impact programs to the kids who need us most

• Quarterly facility and safety inspections are performed at every Clubhouse location

• Annual review of our employee manual including health, safety and transportation policies

• All employees are mandated reporters, by law

• Conduct and record mandatory annual Boys & Girls Clubs of America safety assessments

• Supervision of staff and ongoing safety training to include seminars, conferences, and webinars

• Mandatory employee reference checks

• Compliance with state and local laws

• No tolerance of inappropriate behavior of any kind, including child sexual abuse and misconduct

• The safety, mentorship and sense of community our Clubs provide

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Safety Policies: Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River has comprehensive safety policies in place that protect youth – including, but not limited to, supervision, transportation, communication, and prohibition of one-on-one contact.

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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 the Colorado River members and staff have access to a confidential 24-hour toll-free Child Safety Hotline, 866-607-SAFE (7233) or email SafeClub@Praesidiuminc.com.

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Mandatory Background Checks: Mandatory criminal background checks are required upon hire and annually for every staff and board member at Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River. In addition, criminal background checks are required for any volunteer who has direct, repetitive contact with children. All potential employees and volunteers are run through Veriscreen, as well as the Arizona Sex Offender Registry, state, and FBI fingerprint background checks, through the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

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Required Immediate Reporting: Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River staff and volunteers are all mandated reporters. We are required to report any critical incident/safety concerns to local authorities immediately. We are also required to report any critical incident to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America within 24 hours.

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Mandatory Annual Safety Assessments: We employ a multi-tiered safety assessment approach to ensure we continually make improvements to safety at our Clubs.

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Safety Training: Ongoing training and supervision of staff are critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety training through online courses such as seminars, conferences, and webinars. 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.

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Safety Committee: Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River has a dedicated Board-led Safety Committee to provide input and guidance on local policies and safety strategies. Priorities and initiatives include:

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• Clubhouse Safety Committee inspections

• Committee Improvement Plan

• Improvement of organization-wide policies and procedures

• Overview of annual safety assessment responses

• Policy review of employee manual and health, safety and transportation policies

• Quarterly meetings for seven community safety leadership professionals

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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.

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State and Local Laws: We comply with federal, state, and local safety laws, including those impacting facilities and vehicles.

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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:

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• 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

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Locally, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River partners with:

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• Bullhead City Fire Department

• Fort Mohave Fire Department

• Mohave County Police Department

• Bullhead City Police Department

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Continued Commitment: In July 2020, Boys & Girls Club organizations voted to adopt additional safety measures to further improve safety within our Clubs. Though many of these practices were already commonplace across our Movement, this vote made them mandatory for all Clubs. These include more stringent reference and background checks, enhanced Safety Committee requirements, stronger communication of key safety resources and information, and more. With unprecedented majority, on July 26, 2021, local Boys & Girls Clubs voted in record number to adopt additional membership requirements that further enhance child safety, implementing recommendations from RAINN that began in 2020 and will continue over the next two years – a demonstration of our continued commitment to keeping kids safe.

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Nationally, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America have 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.

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America’s young people deserve nothing less than our constant focus on their safety and our firm commitment to protecting every child who is entrusted to our care at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Colorado River. To learn more about our national safety policies and actions, please visit the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Child Safety page, here.