The Office of the Youth Protection Coordinator recommends the following strategies for managing compliance at the unit (campus, college, school, office) level.
Set expectations for prioritizing compliance with APS 10.13
- Direct personnel to register youth engagements in YPRS far in advance of start dates (at least 1 month) of all youth-involved activities and research.
- Communicate unit-wide expectations for session compliance. Emphasize that authorized personnel must not be allowed unsupervised access to youth until all pre-service requirements are complete.
- Encourage personnel to access the OYPC website for tutorials and tips for meeting requirements, and to attend OYPC convenings and office hours to connect to their peer network and learn about best practices.
- Spotlight compliance successes in departmental communications.
- Direct departmental administrators to send periodic APS 10.13 compliance reminders as part of existing department-wide communications, e.g., encouraging periodic reviews of and updates to YPRS registrations.
Develop a unit-wide compliance monitoring plan
- Set expectations for certain positions to perform ongoing compliance monitoring in YPRS.
- Review unit-wide compliance in YPRS on a monthly basis.
Integrate youth protection requirements into employee hiring processes, position reviews, and onboarding processes for all applicable positions.
- Assess faculty and staff positions more closely for their likelihood of engagement with youth or pursuing youth-involved research. Ensure that background screenings are completed for “security/safety/sensitive” faculty functions.
- Ensure that background checks for new employees, including student employees and volunteers, are submitted with adequate time to clear before a start date.
- Include links for required online trainings, and conduct code signing into departmental onboarding procedures.
- Ensure that new personnel are given time to complete required APS 10.13 pre-service tasks before starting work with youth.
Designate an administrative leader as the APS 10.13 youth protection “champion” to lead unit-wide compliance monitoring efforts.
With support from OYPC, the administrative leader will be well-equipped to establish a successful road map for your unit’s compliance success. Contact us for assistance in strengthening your unit’s APS 10.13 compliance strategies.