The National Center on Child Abuse reports that 1 out of every 3 girls and 1 out of every 5 boys are victims of some form of abuse by the age of 19.  Data also shows that all social, economic, and racial strata are susceptible.  Child abuse, especially child sexual abuse, is a difficult subject for everyone.  Whether or not it proves true, a single allegation of child abuse can devastate your reputation and destroy your organization. The best way to protect children from abuse, and yourself, your employees and volunteers, and your organization from allegations of child abuse, is to prevent abuse from happening in the first place.

Identifying Child Abuse

How can you tell if a child has suffered abuse? If Thomas has a bruise on his forehead, does this mean he was beaten up or that he ran into a soccer goal? What about Angela, who has burn marks shaped like gloves on both hands—is this a sign of abuse?

Unfortunately, the signs of child abuse are not crystal clear, and some abused children show no outward signs of abuse. But as a general rule, if you notice a sudden change in a child’s behavior and that behavioral change is sustained over time, it’s worth looking into. The behavioral change may or may not be the result of abuse. Likewise, physical signs of sexual abuse do not necessarily mean the child was molested but certainly warrant investigation.

Identifying potential child abusers

Just as there is no foolproof way to identify an abused child, there is no sure way to identify people who abuse children. Statistically, among abuse cases reported, women are more likely to neglect and emotionally abuse children, while men are more likely to physically and sexually abuse children. But adults are not the only ones who abuse children. Many cases of abuse, especially sexual abuse, occur when children molest other children.

Child abusers come in every size, shape, color, age, economic group, and religion. Often they are people you like and respect—people who you can’t imagine would ever hurt a child. Yet, the one common characteristic of child abusers is that they are generally under stress and cannot acceptably cope with that stress.

Preventing child abuse

The best way to protect children from abuse is to prevent abuse from happening in the first place.  You can’t predict when child abuse will happen, but you can make it more difficult for abuse to occur with careful planning and hiring practices.

Screening applicants

Preventing child abuse starts by thoroughly screening your organization’s job applicants and volunteers before you allow them to work with you. At a minimum, you should

• Have the applicant complete a formal, written job application
• Conduct a face-to-face interview with the applicant.
• Check at least three references.
• Check with past employers and volunteer organizations.
• Check your state’s sex-offender registries (available in many states on the Internet).
• Check your state’s criminal records.

Note: If the applicant has recently moved to your state, check the states’ records in which they have previously resided.

If the applicant is left unsupervised with a child for long periods of time, you should also conduct a comprehensive, national background check, which includes an FBI fingerprints check. This can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months—a complete set of good, readable fingerprints speeds the process considerably.

Bear in mind that many child abusers have no previous criminal record. Because of this, face-to-face interviews and reference checks are among the best tools to evaluate a potential employee or volunteer.

Interviewing applicants

During the interview, you want to find out how the applicant feels about and relates to children. Be wary of applicants who want to save the world, idealize children and childhood, think adults should relate to children as peers, or want to spend a lot of time alone with children. To find the best fit for each position, ask every applicant the same questions and record their responses. Ask open-ended questions, such as:

• How would you discipline a child who misbehaves?
• Why are you interested in this position?
• What kind of supervisory environment do you prefer?

Checking references

A managerial-level employee should check every applicant’s references. Don’t rely on references from friends and former co-workers—ask the applicant to provide the names of people who have directly supervised and observed the applicant at work. In addition to administrative questions (when did they work for you, why did they leave, what was their position), ask open-ended questions like these:

• What skills do they have in working with young children?
• Do they have realistic expectations for children’s behavior?
• How do they handle frustration or criticism on the job?
• Have you seen them discipline a child? What did they do?
• How do they communicate with their parents?
• Have there been any complaints about their care of children?
• Would you rehire them to work with young children?
• Do you feel any problems or conditions (such as alcohol or drug abuse, criminal activity, or history of mistreating children) would endanger children placed in their care or interfere with their ability to do the job?

Checking criminal records

Depending on your organization’s mission, the fact that an applicant has a criminal history may not necessarily disqualify her from working with you. For example, if your organization employs former offenders to mentor at-risk youth, you will allow applicants with certain types of criminal convictions to work in your organization. You decide what’s right for your organization and how much risk you are willing to take. As a common-sense rule, you should never employ someone who has been convicted of physically or sexually abusing children or any other crime against children. You would also screen out applicants with a history of violent or sexually exploitative behavior.

You should also consider certain factors and circumstances, such as how recently they committed the offense, how old they were at the time of the offense, and what special conditions may have led up to the offense (peer pressure, joining a gang out of fear). The probability they will continue the same type of criminal behavior.

Establishing Policies to Protect Children
Your organization should adopt policies that make it difficult for abuse to occur, such as

• Prohibiting or limiting staff members from being alone with a child, especially where they are out of view of other adults.
• Providing separate sleeping accommodations for adults and children during overnights.
• Ensuring at least two adults accompany children on overnights or outings.