YMCA Michigan Youth in Government - Child Abuse Prevention

Our Commitment to Child Abuse Prevention

As a youth-serving organization that reaches thousands of teens every year, the Y’s most important work is creating safe environments for young people. That any child or teen would experience harm in our care is unacceptable. Ensuring the safety and well-being of young people is foundational to everything we do at the Y to help them learn, grow and thrive. That’s why we’ve partnered with Praesidium and dedicated extensive resources to promoting child abuse awareness within our community.

Child Protection at MYIG

YMCA Michigan Youth in Government and the State Alliance of Michigan YMCA's are committed to keeping children and teens safe in the communities we serve across the state. We are proud and respectful of the trust parents place in our YMCA. See our full Child Abuse Prevention Policies here.

Learn more about our work:

Screening & Hiring – All new hires go through an interview process, three reference checks, a criminal background check and sex offender check.
Training – All staff members complete child abuse prevention training and receive education on creating a child-safe environment. Staff members renew training every year.
Volunteers – Volunteers who will have ongoing interactions with children or young adults also complete thorough background checks and receive abuse prevention training annually.
Policies & Procedures – We maintain rigorous policies and procedures which are enforced at all locations to ensure that children are supervised at all times and no single staff person is ever alone with a child.
Prevention – We partner with Praesidium, a team of experts in child abuse prevention, to assess all aspects of our programs and implement best practices. Additionally, we operate under the YUSA Child Protection Membership Qualification Standards.
Reporting – If any staff member or volunteer suspects or becomes aware of any inappropriate behavior toward a minor, they are to report the incident immediately.

Report an Incident

If you need to report a situation involving child abuse

For reports of immediate danger, please call 911.
To report known or suspected abuse or neglect of a child or vulnerable adult, please call the Michigan MDHHS 24hr hotline: 855-444-3911

If you have any questions or concerns about Y staff or volunteers, or another program participant, you can:

Report concerns directly to the YMCA Michigan Youth in Government State Director (jeff@myig.org) or the Senior Director of Programs & Curriculum State Alliance of Michigan YMCAs (lmassey@michiganymca.org).
Complete our online reporting form. Your submission is confidential.

Abuse Prevention Resources

Our YMCA and YMCA of the USA partner with many local and national organizations that provide excellent training on child abuse prevention to communities:

Darkness to Light is a non-profit committed to empowering adults to prevent child sexual abuse. Darkness to Light offers in-depth learning, tools, and practical guidelines to help adults prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse in their Stewards of Children® training. Details about the full training are at www.D2L.org/Stewards.
Michigan Child Protection Services (CPS) (855) 444-3911. For reports of immediate danger, call local law enforcement at 911.
Fivedaysofaction.org
Praesidium, a trusted resource in Child Abuse Prevention, created this site to help share research and free resources with parents and caregivers learn more at https://www.preventabuse.com/

Educational Videos and Information for Parents & Caregivers by Praesidium

Additional Resources

Together, let’s commit to protecting the youth in our YMCA and our communities by practicing the three habits of child abuse protection each day: know, see and respond. Because when we know and understand how abuse happens, see the warning signs, and are prepared to respond quickly to prevent it; we create a culture of child abuse prevention that results in even safer environments for kids to reach their full potential.

Know

When evaluating camps, sports, and other activities for your child, do you KNOW what questions to ask about abuse prevention? As parents, caregivers, and trusted adults, we play a vital role in protecting children and teens from abuse. Learn the key questions to ask from Praesidium, the YMCA's partner in child abuse prevention.

See

When we SEE grooming patterns—methodical, subtle, gradual, and escalating behaviors used to groom a child for sexual abuse—we can identify them, strengthen our intuition, and protect children. Learn the 6 grooming behaviors every parent or caregiver needs to know and what to do if you see them, from our partner, Saprea.

Respond

RESPONDing starts when a child or teen feels heard and is helped. How can you take action to prevent child sexual abuse? The Safety NETwork (for older youth) are strategies from Lauren’s Kids Safer, Smarter Families Family Safety Toolkit. These resources are designed to help families and caregivers teach personal and digital safety in a comfortable and accessible way.