Resources
What Youth-Serving Nonprofits Need To Know About Youth-On-Youth Abuse
By Rachel Sams and Melanie Lockwood Herman Youth-serving nonprofits invest a great deal of time and effort addressing the risk that an adult associated with their programs could harm children. Many youth-serving nonprofits may not have gone to the same lengths to address the risk that youth participants in their programs could harm other young … Continued
Youth Mental Health: Responsibilities and Opportunities for Nonprofits
By Rachel Sams This article contains information about how to identify and respond to signs of mental health issues and suicide risk in young people. Have you ever looked into the eyes of a young person your nonprofit serves and seen that they were hurting? What did you do? If it hasn’t happened yet, what … Continued
Key Principles in Youth Protection: Considerations and Action Steps
NOTE: This article includes excerpts from Chapter 6 of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center’s book, EXPOSED: A Legal Field Guide for Nonprofit Executives-2nd Edition. NRMC is deeply grateful to Mark E. Chopko for his valuable contributions to this article and EXPOSED. Nonprofit leaders often seek ‘best practices or standards for excellence for which to aim … Continued
Cyberbullying & Cyber Threats to Young People
By Lexie Williams In August of 2009, a nonprofit college preparatory day school in Los Angeles was sued for $100 million dollars by a student’s parents following a case of on-site cyberbullying. The incident occurred when nine students accessed another student’s personal website from school computers and left death threats. The lawsuit alleged negligence committed … Continued
Vital Partners in Youth Protection: Engaging Parents and Caregivers
By Emily Stumhofer You’ve seen it in the news or heard about it through the neighborhood gossip chain, but you hope you’ll never hear the same news again: an appalling allegation of child abuse is uncovered at a trusted nonprofit. Almost anyone would feel repulsed, devastated, or enraged at such news, but perhaps the news … Continued
No Fun Until You Sign a Waiver!
Often without knowing exactly why, the leaders of most youth-serving organizations recognize the inherent weakness in asking children to sign contracts. Therefore, it has become common practice to either ask parents or guardians to waive their right to sue the nonprofit for injuries their child sustains, or to ask both the child participant and a … Continued
Protecting Vulnerable Populations
Attend this webinar to learn about best practice strategies for protecting members of vulnerable populations from harm caused by criminal acts, negligence and accidents. In addition to exploring best practice” approaches learn about critical, evolving challenges facing leaders of nonprofits that serve vulnerable clients. If your nonprofit serves children, the elderly or persons with disabilities, you won’t … Continued
Managing the Risks of Deploying Youthful Volunteers
Did you know that two-thirds of adults who volunteer began volunteering when they were young? It is popular today for schools and court systems to require graduates and juvenile offenders to engage in community service. As a result, your nonprofit may be asked to accept youth volunteers who may not otherwise be part of your … Continued
Principles of Youth Protection
What are the conditions that allow children and youth to be abused by individuals working as employees and volunteers in nonprofit programs? What strategies are useful to nonprofits that want to lessen the opportunity for abuse by staff members? This Web Seminar introduces viewers to the Seven Principles of Child and Youth Protection. These principles … Continued
Responding to Allegations of Abuse
Nonprofits that serve vulnerable populations (including children, the elderly and persons with disabilities) work hard to deliver vital services without inadvertently causing harm. Yet in addition to working hard to prevent harm, every nonprofit that works with vulnerable clients should develop a plan of action in the event the unthinkable happens. This Webinar provides a … Continued
Kids Matter: Managing the Risk of Bullying
October 28, 2015 The Fall 2015 issue of the Center’s periodic newsletter, Risk Management Essentials, is now available. This edition focuses on child safety in nonprofit organizations, particularly youth-serving organizations. One of our talented summer interns, Lexie Williams, wrote the cover article on ‘Cyberbullying & Cyber Threats to Young People.’ This hot topic receives more … Continued
Child Pornography: Not Our Problem?
By John Patterson, Senior Program Director Recently, we learned of several youth-serving organizations that had employees or volunteers charged with Internet crimes against children. The most common crime was possession or distribution of child pornography. Most often the incriminating evidence was found on the personal computers of the individuals charged. Some cases had images of … Continued
Managing Young Service Recipients: Effective Discipline and Control
Across the country, youth-serving nonprofits work hard to offer meaningful, enriching programs for kids of all ages. Concerned about the possibility of harm to service recipients, many organizations have focused intently on activities that reduce the likelihood that an adult caregiver will harm a young person. There is compelling evidence that these efforts are paying … Continued