4 minute read
Creating Safer Spaces
Providing Safe Havens
Since our first Club opened in 1860, Boys & Girls Clubs have been committed to creating safe spaces where young people can thrive. We focus on a young person’s mental, emotional and physical health and safety, with a commitment to ensure kids and teens feel a sense of inclusion and belonging at the Club. From strict safety protocols to adapting programming to be relevant to present-day needs, Clubs are constantly evolving procedures, processes and strategy to raise the bar on safety at youth-serving organizations.
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Creating Safer Spaces
How Boys & Girls Clubs are informing new quality assurance safety process
Despite the many difficulties 2020 has presented, Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Child Safety and Quality Assurance team launched a national pilot for a new safety assessment process. This new process is designed to support Clubs in doing their very best when it comes to youth safety, as part of our enterprise-wide commitment to continuous improvement. The Quality Assurance team is solely focused on working with organizations to evaluate and improve current levels of safety performance. In 2020, 37 Club organizations and 91 sites participated in the pilot to assess the Movement’s safety policies and practices. These locations will be evaluated using a new Safety Assessment Tool app to track findings and generate automated reports. The pilot launched in June 2020 at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo in Michigan. Each organization was visited by a member of the BGCA Quality Assurance team, who evaluated safety systems from the perspective of safety-related membership requirements and other core operating standards – not only to ensure requirements are being met, but to increase understanding and provide solutions and support as needed.
Our strategy is rooted in continuous improvement,” says Mike Belcher, BGCA’s National Vice President of Child Safety and Quality. “We want to keep the focus on improving the way things are done on a regular basis.”
How It Works
The assessment is divided into two components: a selfassessment conducted by the local Boys & Girls Club, followed by a BGCA-led on-site assessment. Both used identical questions to ensure transparency, with the latter adding document reviews, on-site interviews and physical observations of Clubs to evaluate local safety practices and operating procedures. The on-site assessment begins with an organizationlevel review of governance administration, including board-approved policies, safety committee activities, background checks and training. Site-level assessment statements are completed at each Club site to evaluate both facility conditions and the application of staff and volunteer practices to keep young people safe.
Our goal is to gain acceptance for this process,” says Belcher, “making sure we have a team of assessors who provide knowledge, validation and resources to create a safer environment for Club members, staff and volunteers.”
Feedback
Recently, we spoke with Greater Kalamazoo’s Matt Lynn, chief executive officer, and Matt Forkin, director of program development and evaluation, to get their insights on the opening pilot test. CEO Lynn: This was the first go-around I’ve had, as the CEO of the organization, to walk through this particular level of an assessment around safety. For quite some time before I came into the organization, a high level of attention had already been paid to recalibrating certain policies and writing new policies to meet BGCA standards and requirements. For Mike and Teri Rigali (a lead director on the QA team) to come in and review our policies and counsel us on where we’re good, where we’re lacking, how we can make adjustments – that was valuable. Dir. Forkin: It was great to receive recommendations for certain things we needed to update or rephrase. I thought it was extremely beneficial. I think it will be great for Clubs with new leadership or that are new to the organization to see it through that lens and really understand what the priorities need to be when it comes to organizational safety. CEO Lynn: Every conversation created some immediate action for us. A prime example is background checks. We had a broader policy around staffing and volunteerism that included language specific to background checks, but it wasn’t a specific, standalone policy. So, following their site visit, we went to our board to approve a standalone background check. We want to make sure that everybody understands exactly what that standard is and that we will not compromise. That was time very well spent. Dir. Forkin: I’ve gone through a lot of safety assessments. This one felt so constructive. To have these conversations in person and on site made such a difference. At no time did it feel punitive. From an organizational level, that’s very appreciated. By the end of 2021, the assessment pilot aims to reach 645 organizations and 2,000 sites total. To learn more or volunteer your Club organization to participate in this assessment process in 2021 at no cost to your Club, register HERE.
Multi-layer Child & Club Safety Protection
