Join Five Days of Action® to Help Prevent Child Sexual Abuse, April 21-25
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. As part of our commitment to protecting the children in our community, we’re participating in the Five Days of Action - a week-long campaign to increase awareness of child sexual abuse and empower and equip us all to prevent it. The campaign takes place April 21-25. By taking part in this important campaign and through implementing abuse prevention practices year-round, the West Suburban YMCA is committing to the safety of all children in our community.
The Know. See. Respond. campaign is back this year, and Praesidium, Saprea, and Lauren’s Kids have shared resources to support this campaign.
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: https://www.praesidiuminc.com/6-key-questions-a-parent-should-ask-of-an-organization/.
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: https://saprea.org/blog/6-perpetrator-grooming-behaviors/.
Respond
RESPONDing starts when a child or teen feels heard and is helped. How can you take action to prevent child sexual abuse? The Trusted Triangle (for younger children) and 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.
Grades K-2: https://safersmarterfamilies.org/grades-k-2/
Grades 3-5: https://safersmarterfamilies.org/grades-3-5/
At the West Suburban YMCA, steps are taken to ensure a safe environment for every child who enters the building, enrolls in a program, or attends summer camp. These steps include pre-employment screenings that consist of a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check & Sexual Offender Registry Information (SORI) check, and comprehensive reference checks that include standardized questions for assessing risk for abuse. Once an employee is hired, they complete an extensive Child Abuse Prevention Training Program, which is repeated annually, and are mandated to report any suspected abuse. Policies exist to ensure that staff and volunteers are never alone with a child, and all interaction between staff and child must be observable and interruptible.
We take our commitment to child protection seriously and we ask that you do, as well. Check out our protection policy here wsymca.org/safekids to learn more about how we keep kids safe at the West Suburban YMCA. Protecting children from sexual abuse must be the top priority of every person who cares about the health and well-being of kids. Together, we can stand up to demand that children are protected and encourage adults to make it happen in our community. It takes all of us.