Ensuring Child Safety Is Fundamental To The Mission Of Our Club
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 ZERO tolerance for inappropriate behavior of any kind, including child sexual abuse or misconduct, and we put resources behind that stance. We comply with federal, state and local safety laws, including those impacting facilities and vehicles.
Culture of Safety: The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg/Leominster and Gardner 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:
Safety Policies: The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg/Leominster and Gardner 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, The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster 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 criminal background checks are required every year for every staff and board member at The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg/Leominster and Gardner. 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 Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg/Leominster and Gardner.
The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg/Leominster and Gardner 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.
Ongoing training and supervision of staff are critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety training through seminars, conferences, webinars. To name a few that are conducted on-site are Mandatory Reporter Training, In Plain Site, Narcan Training, and Mental Health Awareness Training. 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.
Committees & Partners
The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg/Leominster and Gardner has a dedicated Safety Committee to provide input and guidance on local policies and safety strategies. Priorities and initiatives include:
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:
Locally, The Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg/Leominster and Gardner partners with:
Boys & Girls Clubs of America has 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.
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 Club of Fitchburg and Leominster. To learn more about our national safety policies and actions, please visit Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Child Safety page, here.
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