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Serving the youth in our community is a vital part of our mission, and we are committed to creating a safe environment for the thousands of children and teens we serve every year.
As the nation's largest school-age childcare provider, our most important work includes ensuring their safety and well-being — it is foundational to everything we do at the Y to help them learn, grow and thrive.
At the Y, child protection is our number one priority year-round. During April - Child Abuse Prevention Month - we participate in a week-long campaign called Five Days of Action to increase awareness of child sexual abuse and empower and equip our communities to prevent it. By taking part in this important campaign and through implementing abuse prevention practices year-round, we can all commit to the safety of all children in our care.
Learn the foundational habits of child sexual abuse prevention, below, or follow along as we highlight tips on Facebook and Instagram.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
The YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg is committed to providing a safe place for your children — it is our top priority. As a parent and grandparent myself, as well as a YMCA employee for more than 40 years, I understand the importance of delivering upon this promise and the great responsibility involved in doing so. I, along with my team, take this responsibility very seriously.
All of our Y employees undergo background checks and child safety training upon hire. Led by our Human Resources and Youth Development teams, our staff also works regularly with external child protection experts to provide continuous training and education in abuse prevention. We are focused on promoting a culture of safety and living that culture every day.
I believe that child abuse is 100% preventable. When it comes to preventing abuse, knowledge is the most powerful tool we have. It’s our responsiblity as a Y team to understand the risks and red flags of child abuse and what we can do to respond to abuse when we see it. It’s also our responsibility to help advocate on behalf of our youth and share this knowledge with the larger community. I hope this webpage is a useful resource for you in raising awareness of how we, together, can keep children safe.
Thank you for trusting the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg to serve your family.
Sincerely,
David W. Jezek
President & CEO
YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg
to remain a member in good standing with the National Council of YMCAs. These requirements include:
YMCAs have access to resources to assist them in meeting these requirements. Provided by and facilitated by Y-USA, these resources are accessible through our internal knowledge-sharing platform for YMCA staff.
(Praesidium) to work with all 2,600 Ys across the country and provide access to a comprehensive self-assessment as well as best practices in screening, training, supervision and reporting practices.
and continuously improve and strengthen Y abuse-prevention efforts. Specifically, we work alongside the Guardians for Child Protection, a collective of Y CEOs committed to activating the power of the Y and other youth-serving organizations to engage communities, improve internal operations and advance policy and environmental change to protect children from sexual abuse.
that seek to protect children from various forms of abuse and neglect. Whether it’s passing the Child Protection Improvements Act (CPIA) into law or increasing funding for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), our advocacy efforts reflect the Y’s commitment to child safety.
We as Y staff, members, community members and volunteers need to build on the work we’ve done and develop the three habits in child abuse prevention:
We KNOW when we understand the common practices of those who harm you and the best practices to stop them.
We SEE when we can recognize the warning signs or behaviors that signal abuse or risk for abuse.
We RESPOND when we take action in response to behaviors we recognize as being inappropriate or questionable.
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. 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.
If we don’t understand child sexual abuse, we can’t end it. We KNOW today that:
KNOW how to recognize boundary violations and how offenders operate. Teaching children about their bodies, recognizing warning signs, and responding to any concerns are important first steps. Even very young children can learn some skills to help keep themselves safe from sexual abuse, but it’s up to parents to help them learn what they need to KNOW.
The above statistics provided by Darkness to Light.
Preschoolers understand the idea of rules, such as rules about playing nicely with others and rules about being safe, like wearing seat belts. So as you teach these rules, just add rules about touching their bodies.
First, talk to your child about body parts, including private parts. This will give your child words to use when he/she needs to tell you anything about his/her body, like an injury or rash or other problem in that area.
Then add rules about private parts, like "Never let other people touch your private parts unless Mommy or Daddy knows about it." Children also need to know what to do when someone breaks the rules about touching.
Teach children:
Always keep your eyes and ears open for signs of abuse, listed below.
If something is wrong, you may SEE a sudden change in your child’s behavior, or you may hear unusual comments.
If you SEE or hear these things, follow up. Find a relaxed time to talk with your child, asking them about your concerns.
Here are some signs to look for:
Offenders often operate through a process called "grooming." Child grooming is the deliberate process of gradually initiating and maintaining a sexual relationship with victims in secrecy. Grooming allows offenders to slowly overcome boundaries long before sexual abuse occurs. On the surface, grooming a child can look like a close relationship between the offending adult, the targeted child and (potentially) the child’s caregivers. The grooming process is often misleading because the offender may be well-known or highly regarded in the community. As a result, it’s easy to trust them.
Examples of red flag behaviors:
If you see warning signs from your child or an adult, or you hear about something that sounds like abuse, RESPOND by reporting it immediately.
Your response plays a big role in how your child understands abuse and how he/she recovers.
You do not need to have proof that abuse is occurring to make a report, only reasonable suspicion. Reasonable suspicion means that you have witnessed maltreatment or boundary violations, either in the child or adult, or both. Or, you have received a disclosure from a child about abuse, neglect, or boundary violations towards them.
Child sexual abuse reports should be made to the police and/or state child protective services. Report online at reportabuse.dcf.state.fl.us or call 1.800.962.2873.
Contact the Darkness to Light helpline at 1.866.FOR.LIGHT (1.866.367.54448) or text LIGHT to 741741 to have questions answered by trained counselors at no charge.
Certified Praesidium Guardians™ are certified experts that have demonstrated the ability to implement practices that lead to a safer environment in an organization by developing and maintaining abuse prevention skills. Our Guardians are dedicated to educating staff and the larger community on how to recognize and prevent child abuse. With over two decades of experience, Praesidium is the national leader in organizational abuse risk management.
