The Illinois Valley YMCA is committed to keeping children safe in our community. This means educating ourselves and our community about child abuse and how we can work together to prevent it.

We are proud and respectful of the trust parents place in our YMCA. Our efforts in child protection aim to not only create programs that protect children from abuse but also create communities that are informed and ready to respond.

Creating a Child Safe Environment 

The YMCA stands committed to providing a safe environment to every person who enters our doors, most importantly children who are entrusted to our care. We have a series of measures in place to keep kids safe. Our child protection policies are developed using the Praesidium Safety Equation framework. Specifically, the YMCA:

• Conducts annual criminal history and sex offender registry checks are conducted on staff and volunteers.
• Conducts staff reference checks which include questions on the applicant’s suitability to work with children.
• Conducts staff interview utilizing behavioral based questions.
• Requires staff and volunteers to complete training on preventing, recognizing and responding to abuse. staff go through refresher training annually.
• Requires staff and volunteers to agree to our child safety code of conduct which includes rules such as:
• Prohibits staff and volunteers from being alone with a child; interactions must be observable and interruptible.
• Restricts staff and volunteer contact with children outside of YMCA programs (including babysitting, social networking, offering additional practices, etc.).
• Provides acceptable and unacceptable physical and verbal interactions.
• Require allegations or suspicions of abuse be reported to the proper authorities in accordance with Texas law.
• Provides anonymous ways for staff, volunteers and the community to report rule breaking or concerns to senior leadership.
• We continually evaluate and improve our child safe practices by conducting an in-depth child abuse prevention self-assessment using Know Your Score every two years;
• Conducts screenings of YMCA members against the National Sex Offender Registry.
• We share our policies with parents and the community to create a network that is equipped to know, see, and respond!