Skip to content
Office of the Youth Protection Coordinator

How to Meet Requirements: for Researchers

The following strategies will increase your success in meeting University requirements for youth programs.

Accessible Accordion

  1. Register your study early, even if you are still awaiting IRB approval.
  2. As desired, you may designate someone else on your team to complete the YPRS registration.  Email uwminors@uw.edu with the name & email of the designated staff person and we can update the registration form accordingly.
  3. Check with your department to verify which billing account (ProCard) is set up with UW’s background check vendor, Sterling. See UW HR’s background check billing page for more information. Contact ypbc@uw.edu with questions.

 

  1. Add additional staff or volunteers to the authorized personnel role as soon as you identify who will have the potential for unsupervised access to youth during the course of the study (i.e., data collection).
  2. Set realistic effective (i.e., start) dates for authorized personnel to allow them time to complete onboarding and APS 10.13 requirements.
  3. You can edit effective dates any time until the end of the study. After a study ends, you will not be able to make further changes to personnel dates.
  4. Confirm with your personnel the correct email address they will use to log into the YPRS and to receive notifications.
  5. Email uwminors@uw.edu if personnel emails or names need to be updated, or if personnel report that they completed requirements but it is not showing in the YPRS (they may have created a duplicate account).
  6. Use the Request Edit feature in the YPRS to request removal of any personnel who never participated, or who never had any unsupervised access to youth.

  1. Provide Authorized Personnel with the information they need to understand and complete the requirements.
    1. Information for Authorized Personnel (handout)
    2. Authorized Personnel Pre-service Checklist (handout)
  2. Tell personnel to follow instructions in all emails to complete requirements promptly. If they do not receive e-mails, instruct them to inform you and reach out ASAP with any issues:
  3. Ensure that authorized personnel complete all pre-service requirements (trainings, conduct code(s), and background checks,) before they are permitted to have unsupervised access to youth.
  4. Do not allow unsupervised access to youth for any authorized personnel who have not yet completed all requirements and edit effective dates accordingly.

  1. The background check process can take up to 2 weeks, or longer, if the personnel does not respond promptly to action steps; if they have lived in multiple states or countries; or if they are a minor. Additional steps & forms may be required for minors or personnel who have lived abroad.
  2. Log into the YPRS regularly to check if your personnel still need to complete action steps for their background check process to move forward. Review this YPRS compliance status key to learn more about using the YPRS to track completion of requirements.
  3. Email ypbc@uw.edu if you believe your personnel already have a current (within 3 years) background check on file with UW HR but it is not showing in the YPRS.

  1. Log into the YPRS regularly to monitor completion of requirements by personnel.
  2. Assign support staff or project coordinators to the role of Study Contact in the YPRS – this grants them access to monitor compliance and assist with sending reminders and updating personnel effective and inactive dates as needed.
  3. Review the YPRS status key to learn how to monitor personnel compliance details in the YPRS, or book a YPRS consultation if you need further assistance.
  4. Update effective dates for authorized personnel as necessary if they need more time to complete requirements; ensure they do not have unsupervised access to youth until all requirements are complete.

  1. Update the YPRS with any personnel changes as they occur.

  1. Renew conduct codes annually. Conduct codes must be signed once every 12 months. Your authorized personnel will receive reminders via the YPRS to sign the conduct code(s) before the expiration date.
    1. It may be helpful to proactively have all your authorized personnel sign the conduct code at the same time of year.
    2. Anyone can sign the conduct code using this link at any time, resetting the expiration date to 12 months in the future.
  2. Renew background checks every 3 years. A new background check must be run every 3 years. Your authorized personnel will receive notifications from UW HR in advance of the expiration date to initiate their new background check.

  1. Background check process, ProCards, or help locating an existing background check:
  2. YPRS, trainings, conduct code(s) questions/issues, edits to study dates, edits to personnel emails/names, removal of authorized personnel: