A Risk Management Road Map to Prevent Violence …

1 Ten Steps to Creating Safe Environments for Children and YouthA Risk Management road Map to Prevent Violence & AbuseTen Steps to Creating Safe Environments for Children and Youth, 1st EditionA Risk Management road Map to Prevent Violence & AbuseISBN 978-1-55104-518-4 2007 Canadian Red Cross, reprinted in 2009 Canadian Red Cross Founded 1896 Incorporated 1909 The Red Cross emblem and designation Red Cross are reserved in Canada by law for the exclusive use of The Canadian Red Cross Society and for the medical units of the armed forces by the Geneva Conventions Act, 1985, c.

2 Programs of the Canadian Red Cross are made possible by the voluntary services and financial support of by:Judi Fairholm, , , Singh, Smith, by:Sarah Reid, by:Tamara Wee, you to Adobe Systems Inc. for their generous software donation that helped make production of this manual publication is available in French and English. Please contact the Canadian Red Cross at 1-888-307-7997 for more information or to order RespectED: Violence & Abuse Prevention Red Cross2 ten StepS to Creating Safe environmentS for Children and YouthintroduCtion.

3 5 Illustration: road Map to Safe Environments ..6 Step 1: underStand the iSSue .. 7 definitions .. 8 Chart: The Typology of Violence ..9 Box: The World Report on Violence Against Children ..10 types of maltreatment .. 11 Comparison Between types of Violence .. 14 how and Why abuse happens .. 15 power .. 16 Box: A Few Facts About Child Abuse .. 17 Step 2: reCognize the vulneraBilitY and reSilienCe of Children and Youth .. 19 Illustration: Resiliency Factors .. 21 Step 3: define proteCtion inStrumentS .. 23 international framework .. 24 Box: Other International Child Protection Instruments.

4 25 national framework .. 26 provincial and territorial framework .. 26 Civil liability .. 27 Box: Duty of Care and Liability .. 28 Step 4: Create a prevention team .. 29 Box: Best Practices for Creating a Prevention Team .. 31 Step 5: Complete a riSk aSSeSSment .. 33 Box: Key Questions for Risk Assessments .. 34 Box: Consequences of Not Assessing and Addressing Risks ..35 TABLE OF CONTENTS taBle of ContentS 3 RespectED: Violence & Abuse Prevention risk Management Checklist: Questions to help Create Safe environments .. 36 Step 6: develop poliCie S and proCedureS.

5 39 key areas for policy and procedure development .. 42 Box: Ten Elements of Screening .. 43 Box: Key Inclusions for Codes of Conduct .. 44 Box: The Importance of Confidentiality .. 45 Box: Values that Guide a Child Protection Policy .. 46 Box: Strategies to Improve Visibility and Safety .. 50 accountability .. 54 Box: Strategies to Ensure Accountability .. 54 Step 7: eduCate adultS, Youth and 55 Box: The Economic Benefits of Prevention .. 56 effective training .. 57 Box: Safe Learning Environments and Abuse Issues .. 57 educating Children and Youth.

6 58 educating personnel .. 58 Box: The Benefits of Training on Safe Environments .. 59 educating parents/Caregivers .. 59 Step 8: reSpond to diSCloSureS of Violence , aBuSe,BullYing and haraSSment .. 61 anonymous allegations .. 64 reporting .. 64 Box: Characteristics of an Effective Reporting Mechanism .. 65 Step 9: meet the ChallengeS .. 67 Barriers: Societal, organizational, individual .. 68 Barriers for Children and Youth .. 69 responses to the Barriers .. 69 Step 10: maintain Safe environmentS .. 73 Canadian red CroSS .. 77 respected: Violence & abuse prevention.

7 80 BiBliographY .. 824 ten StepS to Creating Safe environmentS for Children and YouthINTRODUCTIONall children and youth deserve to be safe. There are no exceptions. individuals, families and organizations all have an important role in achieving Ten Steps to Creating Safe Environments for Children and Youth manual is a guide for developing, implementing and monitoring risk Management strategies within organizations to help keep all personnel and participants, especially children and youth, safe from Violence , abuse and harassment. Creating safe environments requires that adults take responsibility to ensure safety wherever young people spend time.

8 This process starts with recognizing situations and behaviours that create unsafe environments and being committed to making the required changes. it means examining our personal and organizational values and determining the best interests of the child. The issues of Violence , abuse, harassment and bullying can create fear about how to respond and how to cope with the risks of liability and criminal charges. The best antidotes to these fears are awareness of the problem, knowledge of the issues, risk Management , and preventative actions. The Ten Steps to Creating Safe Environments can be seen as a comprehensive road map or risk Management strategy that supports organizations in a step-by-step process.

9 Each step of the road map is tied to all of the other steps, so the success of one depends on the achievement of all of the others. how much time each step, or the whole process, A good plan is like a road map: it shows the final destination and usually the best way to get Stanley Judd introduCtion 5 RespectED: Violence & Abuse Preventiontakes is up to each organization however, the goal for all is to reduce risk as soon as possible. Illustration: road Map to Safe Environmentsunderstanding the prevention of Violence , abuse, harassment and bullying in a comprehensive manner is foundational to creating safe environments.

10 As we learn more and realize that there are concrete steps we can all take as individuals and organizations to Prevent hurt against children, our inclination to see the problem in one dimension shifts to a wider perspective. We begin to see that by tackling the problem one step at a time on many fronts in a coordinated way, the risk of harm becomes less and less. We begin to see that this complicated problem is, in fact, STEPS TO SAFER ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH Understand the issue 1 Recognize the vulnerability and resilience of children and youth 2 Respond to disclosures of Violence , abuse, bullying and harassment Complete a risk assessment 5 Meet the challenges 10 Maintain safe environments 3 Define protection instruments Create a prevention team 4 Develop policies and procedures 7 Educate adults.