Club Safety

The Safety and Wellbeing of Young People is Our top 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.

Safety Policies

The Boys & Girls Club of Livingston County has comprehensive safety policies in place that protect youth including, but not limited to, supervision, transportation, communication, and prohibiting private one-on-one contact.

Mandatory Background Checks

Mandatory criminal background checks are required every year for every staff and board member at the Boys & Girls Club of Livingston County. 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 National Sex Offender Registry using Veriscreen, Inc.

Mandatory Annual Safety Assessments

We complete a safety assessment each year to ensure we continually make improvements to safety at our Clubs, and the assessment is reviewed by our Board-led Safety Committee.

Mandatory Employee Reference

Any employee interested in moving to another Boys & Girls Club is required to have a reference from the previous Club, even if the Clubs are within the same community.

State and Local Laws

We comply with federal, state, and local safety laws, including those impacting facilities and vehicles.

Local Safety Partnerships

• Pontiac Police Department

• Fairbury Police Department

• Livingston County Sheriff’s Office

• Fire Department

• IHR in Livingston County

• Community Connections

• Project Oz (the Boys & Girls Club of Livingston County is a certified SAFE PLACE)

Culture of Safety

The Boys & Girls Club of Livingston County 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:

• Backgrounds screenings for all employees and volunteers.

• Bi-Monthly Safety Committee Meetings.

• Quarterly Trainings for front line and leadership team staff members.

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 Livingston County members and staff have access to a confidential 24-hour toll-free Child Safety Hotline, 866-607-SAFE (7233) or email SafeClub@Praesidiuminc.com.

Required Immediate Reporting

The Boys & Girls Club of Livingston County 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.

Safety Trainings

Ongoing training and supervision of staff is critical. We participate in a wide variety of child safety training, such as those conducted by the Illinois After-School Conference, Leadership University (including over 16 hours of onboarding before staff start with 8 hours of sexual abuse prevention training), DHS training, Trauma Trainings, Leadership Conference, National Conference, Youth Development Institute, and Club Directors Academy along with A.L.I.C.E. training & drills. 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.

National Safety Partnerships:

• National Child Safety Advisory Task Force, made up of leading experts and organizations

• Blue Ribbon Taskforce, comprised of local Club leaders charged with providing input on the safety direction and key safety initiatives

• Mental Health First Aid, a national program that teaches skills to recognize and respond to signs of mental illness and substance abuse

• Crisis Text Line, a confidential text message service for youth in times of crisis

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America has also 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.