Risk Management

Youth Program Personnel (Staff & Volunteers)

Youth Program Personnel include all administrators, employees, and volunteers who have regular and/or direct contact with minors during a youth program.

All Youth Program Personnel (staff & volunteers) are responsible for adhering to the directives outlined in the CSU Managing Risk in Youth Programs Resource Guide and complying with the CPP Youth Protection Program (YPP) policy and procedures outlined in the CPP Youth Protection Program Operations Detail.

Applying to Work at a Youth Program

As part of the application process to work/volunteer at a youth program, all Youth Program Personnel must provide a minimum of three references, at least of one of which is personal.

All Youth Program Personnel are required to undergo a multi-state criminal background check and fingerprinting prior to being in contact with youth program participants. 

No individual shall be permitted to be in direct contact with youth participants or have a defined role or responsibility where youth participants’ personal identification information is conveyed, if said individual does not have a verified, clean criminal background check.

Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form
All Youth Program Personnel and CPP employees and volunteers who have regular and/or direct contact with youth, must sign a Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form and provide it to their Program Sponsor prior to beginning work at a youth program.Youth Program Personnel who do not sign a Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form will not be allowed to work/volunteer at a youth program.
Employees
Youth program employees are designated as general reporters and must sign a General Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form. To access the form, click the link below.
General Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form [Click to Download]

Volunteers
Youth program volunteers are designated as limited reporters and must sign a Limited Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form. To access the form, click the link below.
Limited Mandated Reporter Acknowledgement Form [Click to Download]

Code of Conduct Agreement
Program Personnel must provide a signed copy of the Youth Program Personnel Code of Conduct Agreement to their Program Sponsor prior to beginning work at a youth program. By signing this document, Youth Program Personnel are agreeing to abide by the University’s minimum standards for interacting with youth while operating a CPP-sponsored or -affiliated youth program. To download the code of conduct agreement for program personnel, click the link below.
Youth Program Personnel Code of Conduct Agreement [Click to Download]

Release of Liability Form
Program Personnel must provide a signed copy of the Release of Liability, Promise Not to Sue, Assumption of Risk & Agreement to Pay Claims Form to their Program Sponsor prior to beginning work at a youth program. To download the liability form, click the link below.
Release of Liability, Promise Not to Sue, Assumption of Risk & Agreement to Pay Claims [Click to Download]

Working at a Youth Program

CPP Personnel
Employees and volunteers who wish to work at a youth program are required to take the specific trainings listed in the CPP Youth Protection Training Matrix prior to beginning work at a youth program. To view/download the training matrix, click the link below.
CPP Youth Protection Training Matrix [Click to View/Download]


Third-Party Personnel
CPP does not provide training for employees and volunteers hired by an outside, third-party. Third-party Youth Program Personnel must be provided with appropriate training by their Program Sponsor/Administrator prior to being allowed to work at a youth program.

Youth Program Personnel are required to maintain American Camp Association (ACA) recommended staff/volunteer-to-participant supervision ratios. A minimum of two Chaperones must be present throughout the program, regardless of total participant count and activity.

For youth programs that do not include overnight stays, the ratios range from the following:
  • One staff member for every six youth participants ages 4 and 5
  • One staff member for every eight youth participants ages 6 to 8
  • One staff member for every ten youth participants ages 9 to 14
  • One staff member for every twelve youth participants ages 15 to 17
For youth programs that include overnight stays, the ratios range from the following:
  • One staff member for every five youth participants ages 4 and 5
  • One staff member for every six youth participants ages 6 to 8
  • One staff member for every eight youth participants ages 9 to 14
  • One staff member for every ten youth participants ages 15 to 17

Youth programs that include both accompanied and unaccompanied minors must follow ACA supervision ratios, focusing staff and volunteer attention on youth who are unaccompanied by a parent/guardian.

Adhering to supervision ratios is not required when a program requires or reasonably anticipates that ALL youth participants will be accompanied by a legal guardian or a legal guardian’s authorized appointee.

All Youth Program Personnel are mandated reporters and are required to report any known or suspected incidences of abuse to the proper external authorities.

A mandated reporter should suspect child abuse or neglect whenever it is objectively reasonable to do so. Facts upon which a reasonable suspicion may arise do not have to have been witnessed by the mandated reporter but can be learned from other sources.

Mandated reporters are personally and legally responsible for determining when reporting is required and following CPP reporting procedures. 

What to Report:
Mandated reporters are required to report the following types of child abuse or neglect as soon as possible:

  • Physical abuse, meaning physical injury other than by accidental means
  • Sexual assault, including sex acts with a child, intentional masturbation in the presence of a child, child molestation, and lewd or lascivious acts with a child
  • Sexual exploitation, including acts relating to child pornography, child prostitution, or performances involving obscene sexual conduct by a child
  • Neglect meaning the negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child by a parent, guardian or caretaker under circumstances indicating harm or threatened harm to the child's health or welfare
  • Willful harming or injuring or endangering a child, meaning a situation in which any person inflicts, or willfully causes or permits a child to suffer, unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or causes or permits a child to be placed in a situation in which the child or child's health is endangered
  • Unlawful corporal punishment, meaning a situation in which any person willfully inflicts upon a child cruel or inhuman corporal punishment or a physical injury
Youth Program Personnel are also required to report any known or suspected Youth Program Code of Conduct violations to their Program Supervisor.

Confidentiality & Immunity:
Mandated reporters cannot be held civilly or criminally liable for their reports. They enjoy immunity from prosecution for their reporting of suspected child abuse. Both the identity of the person who reports and the report itself are confidential and disclosed only among appropriate agencies.

Failure to Report: 
A mandated reporter who fails to make a required report, or any administrator or supervisor who impedes or inhibits a report, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, a fine of $1,000, or both. Where the abuse results in death or great bodily injury, the mandated reporter who fails to make a required report or administrator or supervisor who impeded or inhibited the report is subject to punishment of up to one year in jail, a fine of $5,000, or both. Any administrator, employee, or volunteer who has knowledge of a staff member who was designated to report an incident, but failed to do so shall thereafter make a report of the incident.

Step 1: Contact the Proper Authorities
Once abuse has been observed or is reasonably suspected, mandated reporters must immediately contact at least one of the following authorities:
  • The University Police Department
  • The County Sheriffs’ Department
  • The County Probation Department (if designated to receive mandated reports)
  • The County Welfare Department (Child Protected Services)
For observed or suspected abuse or neglect occurring on CSU premises, at an official activity of, or at a program conducted by or affiliated with the CSU, mandated reporters are encouraged, but not required, to also notify their supervisors or other appropriate administrators. However, reporting to a supervisor, a coworker, or any other person is not a substitute for making a mandated report to one of the agencies listed above.
 
Step 2: Provide Information
Provide the contacted authority with as much of the following information as known:
  • Your name, business address, and telephone number as the mandated reporter
  • The child's name, address, and present location
  • The name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the child's parent(s), guardian(s), or caretaker(s)
  • The source of information that led to the suspicion of child abuse
  • The name(s), address(es), telephone number(s), and other personal information of person(s) who might have abused the child
 
Step 3: Complete and Send Form SS 8572
Within 36 hours of receiving information concerning the incident, complete Form SS 8572 and send, fax, or electronically transmit it to the agency that was contacted by phone.
To download Form SS 8572, click the link below.