Keeping Kids Safe!

1. KeepingKidsSafe! The Michigan 4-H Youth Development Youth-Adult Overnight Housing Policy (Updated 9/09)

2. Keeping Kids Safe! Why develop a policy?

3. Why develop a policy? We want to do all we can to help ensure the safety and well-being of both youth and adults involved with Michigan 4-H programs 4-H Guiding Principle #2 Youth are physically and emotionally safe.

4. Why develop a policy? We want to reflect recom-mendations from: • Long-Term 4-H Use of Kettunen Center Committee • MSU Office of Risk Management and Insurance • MSU Office of General Counsel • MSU Agriculture and Natural Resources Office of Human Resources We want to align with recom-mendations from research on child sexual abuse

5. Understanding child abuse and neglect . . . Child abuse means that a child’s body or mind is being injured. Neglect means failing to give a child what he or she needs. Sexual abuse includes having sexual contact with a child.

6. Understanding child abuse and neglect . . . In 2006 in Michigan there were 16,104 sub-stantiated cases of child abuse and neglect involving 27,148 victims. Of these cases, 1,227 kids were victims of sexual abuse.

7. Understanding child sexual abuse . . . Extrafamilial sexual abuse of children is thought to be significantly under-reported. In one study, 20% of extrafamilial offenders said they accessed children via an organized activity.

8. Understanding child sexual abuse . . . What do offenders say . . . • “The last person you’d expect” • Sexual offenders working with or doing voluntary work with kids exploit the trust that comes with their role • Access to unsupervised areas should be restricted or monitored

9. “Child sexual abuse should be seen as a virus that flourishes in secrecy and isolation. The best treatment for inoculating communities and protecting children is open communication.” C. van Dam, 2006

10. Our response . . . Development of the Michigan 4-H Youth Development Youth-Adult Overnight Housing Policy

11. Core Component of Policy Youth can be housed with unrelated adult chaperones aged 21 and over at overnight 4-H events as long as the youth-adult ratio is at least two youth to one adult and the adults have been through the MSU Extension Child Well-Being Volunteer Selection Process.

12. Applies to any Michigan 4-H– sponsored state-, regional-, multicounty-, county- or club-level overnight event where adults are housed with or share bathrooms with unrelated youth (such as workshops, events, fairs, exchanges, overnight trips, lock-ins and camps). Mandatory implementation date: January 1, 2008

13. The Youth-Adult Housing Policy . . . Requires parents/guardians to sign a 4-H Overnight Housing Parent/ Guardian Permission Form indicating their understanding that their child may be sharing lodging with an unrelated adult (who has been through the MSU Extension Child Well-Being Volunteer Selection Process) and with at least one other youth

14. The Youth-Adult Housing Policy . . . Addresses other aspects of overnight housing situations (including lodging with related adults, special needs situations and housing older-younger youth together) Provides resources for supporting chaperones in their role

15. The Youth-Adult Housing Policy . . . Applies to 4-H club overnights – volunteers should work with 4-H staff to ensure the correct paperwork is submitted Can be accessed in its entirety at the Michigan 4-H web site – where many “frequently asked questions” have been included

16. We all have a role to play in keeping kids physically and emotionally safe . . . On the organizational level: Get to know the policy and abide by it! On the personal level: Recognize the signs of abuse and neglect and know what to do with this information!

17. Let’s work together to keep kids safe!