Child Safety

Protecting our children is a top priority. It is the responsibility of the township to provide support, protection, and education. It is the responsiblity of the community to be aware, educated, and willing to step forward to protect our own children, our neighbors' children, and children in other communities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published "Preventing Child Sexual Abuse Within Youth-serving Organizations: Getting Started on Policies and Procedures" (see link at right) which summarizes these considerations for a policy:

1. Screening and selecting of employees/volunteers
   1. Education about organization and youth-protection policies
   2. Written application
   3. Personal interview
   4. Reference checks
   5. Criminal background checks
2. Guidelines on interactions between individuals
   1. Appropriate/inappropriate/harmful behaviors
   2. Ratios of employees/volunteers to youth
   3. One-on-one interactions
   4. Risk of interactions between youth
   5. Prohibitions and restrictions on certain activities
   6. Out-of-program contact restrictions
   7. Caregiver information and permission
   8. Responsibility for youth
3. Monitoring behavior
   1. Responding to what is observed
   2. Roles and responsibilities
   3. Clear reporting structure within organization
   4. Observation and contact with employees/volunteers
   5. Documentation that monitoring has occurred
4. Ensuring safe environments
   1. Visibility
   2. Privacy when toileting, showering, changing clothes
   3. Access control
   4. Off-site activity guidelines
   5. Transportation policies
5. Responding to inappropriate behavior, breaches in policy, and allegations and suspicions of child sexual abuse
   1. What to respond to and what to report
   2. Reporting process
   3. Internal records
   4. Confidentiality policy
   5. Response to the press and the community
   6. Membership/employment of alleged offenders
6. Training employees/volunteers
   1. All policies and procedures organization chooses
   2. Child sexual abuse information
   3. Importance of preventing child sexual abuse
   4. Personal conduct
   5. Healthy development of youth
   6. Protective factors
   7. Handling disclosures
   8. Immunity and support for reporters
7. Training caregivers
   1. Child sexual abuse information
   2. Organization's child sexual abuse policies and procedures
8. Training youth
   1. Child sexual abuse information
   2. Protective factors

The township has recently adopted a new set of rules and procedures to protect our children when using public facilities and grounds. (See links under "New Policies and Procedures" above right.)

In addition to policies, I hope we can provide guidance to citizens to help answer these plain-English questions:

• If I suspect child abuse, what should I do?
• There's been a change in my child's appetite, sleeping patterns, she's acting out more, and performing poorly at school. What should I do?
• What support can I expect from the township and the county?
• If my child tells me of "bad touching," should I believe her? Should I investigate first?
• Someone I know accused someone else I know of sexual abuse. What should I do?
• If I know someone is a pedophile, but can't prove it, can I be sued if I make my knowledge public?
• I feel for grownups who were victims as kids, but can't they just get over it and move on?
• I was a victim as a child and I am still struggling. Where can I turn for help?
• I know the accused guy and he was nice and never tried to molest me.
• In my neighborhood is a guy who lives alone and kids go over and play his video games after school. I have suspicions. What should I do?

Selected Myths About Child Abuse

Myth: Sexual abuse of a child is usually an isolated, one-time incident.

Fact: Child sexual abuse occurrences develop gradually over time; repeat occurrences are generally the rule.

Myth: When a child is sexually abused, it is immediately apparent.

Fact: In her confusion of loyalty to her sex offender, she protects him or her by holding the secret. Thus, she carries the shame and guilt. The victim often believes that she has cooperated with the sex offender in some way and places inappropriate blame on herself. Therefore, although with tremendous suffering, she hides her pain through denial, dissociation, numbing, zoning out, hyperactivity, as well as other distracting behaviors. However, the aware parent would recognize these behaviors as a sign that something is wrong.

Myth: Boys are less traumatized as victims of sexual abuse than girls.

Fact: Studies show that long-term effects are equally damaging for either sex. Ironically, males may be more damaged by society's refusal or reluctance to accept their victimization, and by their own resultant belief that they must 'tough it out' in silence.

Myth: Children will naturally outgrow the effects of sexual abuse or incest.

Fact: Sexual abuse or incest affects every aspect of human development. The damage is profound, extensive and pervasive. It is deeper than the physical and emotional level — it is a soul injury that requires multifaceted, multidimensional, therapeutic processing conducted by a professional who specializes in sexual abuse and incest trauma recovery.

The above are excerpts from Common Myths About Child Sexual Abuse and Incest. Read more...